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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
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http://www.archive.org/details/dreamepicpoemOOrobi 



A DREAM. 



AN EPIC POEM. 



BY 



JOSEPH CARVER ROBINSON. 

it 

3^ 






J. C. ROBINSON, PUBLISHER, "^^ 



34 Broad St., Boston, Mass. 



Copyright, j8Sq, 

By Joseph Carver Robinson, 

boston, mass. 



Electrotyped and Printed by 
Addison C. Getchell, Boston, Mass. 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 



For fear some evil minded person might 
wantonly misconstrue my flights of fancy, 
wherein I have that power, Monopoly, seize 
on creation, as being irreverent, I will say I 
cast no slighting reflections on the Omnip- 
otent ; but I wish to show what vast pro- 
portions a Monopoly would assume if not 
alone confined to our little world of suffer- 
ance. 

This work was printed for private dis- 
tribution, but having several hundred copies 
in excess of my pleasure to distribute as a 
private edition, I offer them to the public. 

J. C. ROBINSON. 



As in this poem I have pictured the 

future of Monopoly, I would respectfully 

dedicate it to the Independent Oil Man and 

to all those whose sympathy and efforts go 

forth to oppose and crush out Monopoly 

from our midst. 

J. C. R. 



A DREAM. 



A WONDROUS dream my mind conceived, 
at first 
It gave me joy beyond all hope. There seemed 
No bound of perfect bliss that mind could draw^ 
So fair as this ; the darkest night was turned 
To day, and Heaven's sylvan shades and nooks 
Were enwrapped by gold'n streams of living 

brooks. 
Then, there were no pains in the depths of Hell 
As did my troubled soul indwell. 

I dreamed I'd turned the world into a fount 
Of Oil, and wov'n the silken stream of gold 



6 A DREAM. 

And green into vast wealth, by a long 

Continuous dream. 

My greedy mind, with ease 

Expanded to the work, until rivers 

That used to be, turned to Oil. So all waters, 

Even the sea ! 

Methought the world's last days had come ; the 

race 
Of struggling man was run. Had not the Lord 
My soul giv'n strength, the troubled horrors 
That reached me from the very highest peaks 
Where suffering humanity had scaled, 
I should have lost heart and let slip my soul 
From its mortal part, such dire horrors mocked 

me ! 

I trembling stood, as one dumb-bound. 
Here, struggling in the sea, a doomed life, 
Buff^'ting the dark'ned stream with lusty sinews. 



A DREAM. 7 

Fighting in vain 'gainst death. There, men of 

sin, 
Half-demon, half-dev'l, who through life were 

hunted, 
Hated, and outlawed, pleading for the boon 
That had made them miserable ! 

Amid human wail this small speck of earth 
In blackened space whirled as a great Oil Bub- 
ble, 
Drowning man in his sin. As I alone reigned 
Supreme on this gold'n wave, a smiling greed 
Filled my brain. I forgot the horrors I'd seen, 
And gloated o'er my Oily Sea of wealth, 
This translucent liquid of living green. 

The world was mine ! All this great Oil Bub- 
ble ! 
My countless wealth now seemed most secure, 
As humanity no longer did endure. 



8 A DREAM. 

I'd heard their last gi'oans and seen their death- 
throes ; 

They'd sunk beneath the waves to death ; the 
waves 

Obliterated the scene of doom, 

Leaving no trace to mark their tomb. 

I stood monarch of all this vast plain ; 

Was the rich harvest worth the lives I'd slain ? 

Yes! why not? I'd crushed a mortal foe's de- 
sire, 

And quenched in them a most rebellious fire. 

Rid the world of sin by sacrificing blood, 

Merely rep'tition of another flood. 

Ha ! ha ! they were loth to swamp in my spoil, 

If their souls were light they could swim in Oil. 

How quickly they shot to the core of Hell ! 

For them, a fitter place there's none to dwell. 

Then, an awful stillness fill'd the heavy air. 
In this death-like quiet my bark drifted 



A DREAM. 9 

As a thing of ease ; so still one scarce could 

Hear the rippling of the seas; erewhile, 

The frantic shrieks of man nigh drove me 

mad — 
Now the awful silence seemed quite as bad. 

" But why disheartened ? " I asked myself. 

" I have caused misery without pity : 

I've crushed Titusville, Bradford, Oil City — 

Hundreds of towns by honest toil that reared 

Their heads from the product of Oil. I took 

Millions from the land and left it as bare 

As a babe's hand ; took the substance of the earth 

And put it into my purse ; I blighted 

The country as with a curse, without one 

Pang of remorse." 

When the people 

Had no woe, they were thoughtless of the mor- 
row. 



lO . A DREAM. 

This was the time I laid my plans to pluck 
The joy from the heart of man, thus reaping 
Their harvest, by a sharp turn, that they'd 

toiled 
For years to earn. 

'Twas the clinking 
Of the drill in 
The flinty rock, 
And the genius 
Of a Drake gave 
The w^orld a shock. 

I loved the doleful sound of the walking-beam, 
As it echoed over wood and vale and stream. 
I loved the rustic scenes of long ago, 
The hills that spouted Oil in steady flow. 

Methinks I hear the sound of jar, and thud 
Of drill ; note the running of the sand-reel. 



A DREAM. II 

I hear the sand-pump in the well below ; 
(This sand-pumping, Oil unto me doth show.) 
Hear the rattling of the bull-wheel, letting 
The tools down the well. See ! the walking- 
beam 
Is lowered, and the temper-screw is set, 
Driller at his post, but work's not movmg 
Yet. Now the walking-beam is in motion ! 
Up and down it goes, drilling the soft rock 
And the hard, till into the Oil-sand it goes. 

I hear the sound of gas from below, 
Hear the pent-up force in the earth 

Now getting ready for a flow. 
A gusher's soon to have its birth. 

See the rope and tools outward fly ! 

On, through the spray of gas and Oil, 
Leaping upward towards the sky, 

I see the startled son of toil, — 



12 A DREAM. 

Joining pipe ne'er fail ; 

In the tank Oil flows 
Spouting like a whale 

Every time it blows. 

See the golden cream 

To the surface rise, 
Sparkling like a beam 

Coming from the skies. 

Whatever pow'r used, whatever mode of toil, 

The people still produced a flood of Oil. 

Year by year they wrought hand and heart with 

toil, 
Their wealth was mine ; 'twas all for me their 

spoil. 

As the moth in the candle's light e'er finds 
Certain doom, so, unto the " Oil-man " did 
The Exchange prove his financial tomb. 



A DREAM. , 13 

The Refiners gave what I demanded, 
Reluctant ; they'd little money to spare. 
They'd say " Advance of freight takes the pro- 
fits, 
And scarcely leaves a cent in our pockets." 

I used to keep their nose to the grindstone, 
Filch fro their purse, and squeeze from them 

groan. 
This, man might say was " cruel." Perhaps 

'twas. 
But it pleased me ; 'twas the way I had to draw 
From them a fee. 

The Producers made consolidated efforts 
To protect themselves against my power ; 
Ev'ry attempt they made was damaging 
To their success and beneficial to mine. 
This one man power is great ; one need not 
spend 



14 A DREAM. 

His efforts in contending against his 

Own element, but can send his combined 

Sti'ength into the enemy's camp, who 

At the best are divided in opinions. 

I could always discover their weakest points, 

And, like as a successful general 

Conquers his foe, I would break down all 

Opposing opposition, and throttle 

The Producers' movements by the hand 

Of Monopoly. 

On this Sea of Oil I floated in my dream, 

I loved this sea for which I'd worked my 

scheme. 
I had now no toil, no care to guard. 

As in this blissful mood I lay. 

The green wave undulating as a thing 

Of life, — 

I felt not, nor cared not, for what had been ; 



A DREAM. 15 

I felt ne'er a pang for committing sin. 
On I flew ! My ship. rode like a cork 
Through gold'n glimmering beams of moon-lit 

seas, 
While the Oily wave with its gentle swell 
Would repel any storm that time could foretell. 
No power (save Heaven) that was afloat 
Could wreck my craft or harm my boat. Me- 

thought, 
" I'm blest ; the Great Power above protects 

me, 
Although, alas. His punishment severe 
Has fall'n on mine enemies, who ai*e writhing 
In torture beneath me." 

Lo ! now light as winged mist, so white the 

locks 
And beard that swung to the breeze as wave's 

crest ; 
At his right side, jewelled set, a golden 



1 6 A DREAM. 

Key he wore, while in his hand a crooked 
Staff he bore ; two wings, di'mond hinged, from 

his 
Back protruding ; thus St. Peter from out 
The gates of Heaven to me forth came. 
St. Peter gave his hand to me, 
And straight bore me on through the yielding 

air. 
Up, up past the Archipel'gos of stars 
To the verdant rivage of the crystal 
Ocean. 

The burst of a new being filled my soul, 
A pure unfoldment of a better life. 
Angels sang sweet songs as they floated amid 
Feathery clouds ; all Heaven's consort 
Commixed and commingled without discord. 
Obedient to her laws we drifted 
Through a melodious chorus with spherical 
Accuracy, subject to one great law ; 



A DREAM. 1"] 

All law being subject to us ; with our souls 
Attuned luito all things, all things attuned 
To our souls, a dulcet finish was giv'n , 
To Heaven's symphony. 

Years appeared to pass like soft music 

In this melodious dream ; all timing 

With my ev'ry wish ; from day to day, each 

Gentler hour seemed enkindling within me 

A new life, increasing ever in joy. 

With greed I feasted upon each fleeting 

Moment, ever reluctant to let it pass ; 

Passing, always left my cup overcharged 

With new sweets. Now all sins of earth seemed 

purged, 
And naught was left but the purest 
Gems of soul, whose precious liquid drops 

caused 
But sweetest bliss that crowned my ev'ry 

thought. 



t8 a dream. 

The birth of my new being 

Gave unto me such ravishing delight, 

I could but think Heav'n (though but on its 

verge) 
Held but little more happiness for me, 
So supreme was my bliss. 

How majestic the hills crowned 
The winding meads, terrace o'er terrace, reach- 
ing 
Up until the blue expanse of Heaven 
Was as a bower of ravishing sweets. 
With such seraphic forms the place did teem 
It entranced all my sense in this fair dream. 
Angels roamed beneath Heaven's sunlit trees, 
And with joy sported o'er the fragrant leas. 

No care, no thought of gold, or greed of gain 
Possessed me, as I gazed o'er this heav'nly plain. 
All these charming scenes to me were as truth. 



A DREAM. 19 

Here feeble age again renewed its youth : 
For here the Universe, the great Fountain 
Of all life ! 

As I, entranced, gazed around, St. Peter 
Unto me thus spoke : 

" Man, wonder not at this, nor yet do dote, 
For far in the realms of the God of Light, 
Far reaching, far beyond thy spirit's sight. 
Yes, so far beyond thy picturing mind 
As thy flooded earth from the farth'rest star ; 
So far that the star's light could never shine 
In myr'ads of years on that world of thine ; 
So far that but the purest souls could trace 
The soft ether depths of eternal space. 
There the sov' reign spirit of Life doth dwell. 
Self-made and self- formed by some mighty 

spell ! 
A rad'ant centre 'round which just souls move, 
Ay, a perfect haven of peace and love. 



20 A DREAM. 

There the records of holy lives are scrolled ; 
There may the righteous enjoy bliss untold." 

From my seat in Heaven, how glorious 

To peer through the infinite space all jewelled 

With sky-flowers, 

And note the harmony, the grandeur 

Of the Omnipotent ! 

" Casting visual nerve 
Askance," the orbs in sj^ace whose rays of ligiit 
From billions of years down to a second 
It takes to reach the earth, drew my scenic 
To a focus. By looking from the stars 
In their sev'ral magnitudes, each in turn, 
All of which I could command from my seat 
In Heaven, and by so connecting them 
With spirit eye to convey sight as does 
Telephone sound to the ear, I could trace 
All events of earth, from the fall of man 



A DREAM. 11. 

Down to the coming of the second flood. 
In a twinkle I could compass the world's 
History ; note its foundation source, and mark 
The development of all 'vents thereon. 

Time, to me was as nothing. A billion 
Of years was but as a thought. All the earth 
Was before me as a great book, wherein 
I could trace the minutest details 
Of man, bird, or beast. 

As I from star to star noted the face 

Of creation, I saw on my world, seas 

Converted into deserts ; mountains and plains 

Sunk beneath the wave. I saw my native land, 

America, her hills pricking their heads 

High above the waters, when all that now " is 

Visible of Europe, save a few islands 

Dotted here and there, was submerged ;" "while 

America's coast line laid bare from 



22 A DREAM. 

Nova Scotia to the far west," and the sun 
Pregnant with life, conceiving on the uprising 
Hills, grasses in copious green, fruits and flowers, 
Europe was beneath the sea, peopled by 
Finny tribes and perverse monsters of the deep. 
" Fish swam o'er the face of Europe that the like 
In man's history ne 'er was seen," feasting 
On the same grounds where kings and princesses 
In all their regal sway have since bailqueted. 
The crocodiles, alligators, and snakes 
Ugly coiled, first found shores in America 
To bask in the sun. Here birds first chirped 

their' 
Sweet notes from bending boughs. Before Eu- 
rope 
Saw the light of day America beat 
And palpitated with life. 

After this age of the world. 

All blessed by God, I saw a change in earth's 



A DREAM. 23 

Formation ; Asia, Africa, and Europe 
Rose above the water's surface and were 
Coupled with America by a neck of land. 
Now forming the ocean bed. Then opened 
Up to me the garden of Eden in all its 
Unfoldments ; the creation of Adam and Eve ! 
If was a beauteous sight to see, 
The birth of love in its primitive 
Simplicity, wise counsel, strength, and tender 
Care blended. 

In converse close, beheld I 

Adam and his lovely Eve ; list'ning intent, 

Methought I heard Adam address Eve thus, 

" Sweet companion of my joys, the way of 

peace 
And happiness is ours ; the path wherein 
We tread determines the future state of man. 
We have boundless scope, our will and way is 
Unmolested and unforbidden, save 



24 A DUE AM. 

The fruitage of a choice tree herein planted 

In our garden Eden to leave untouched ; 

This fruitage, though swfeet and knowledge giv- 

If partaken of brings death and the curse of sin 
Upon us and our seed. With jealous care 
Thou flesh of mine I'll guide your steps far from 
This tree ; together let us walk abroad 
The works of creation to view. We being 
The most perfect and God-like, His harvests 
Are all for our comfort, yet judiciously 
We must vise them." 

I traced this happy twain 

Wandering far mid the rocks, trees, flowers, 

And fruits of creation ravished by God's 

Unfoldments of life and beauty, until 

Adam, being weary from assisting 

Eve through the virgin growth of tangled 

Vegetable life, lay him down to rest ; 



A DREAM. 25 

He, the while, giving a warning voice to Eve, 
Saying, " Keep close within this bower, 
At farthest go not beyond my voice's sound 
For fear some evil one may be hereabout 
Lurking, and with seductive art lure thee 
On to sin." 

" Fear not, dear Adam," said Eve. " The wis- 
dom 
Of your words has deep rooted in my heart, 
And no lui'king evil can entice me 
From thy love and my fixed purpose to be 
True unto thee." Time wafted on ; during 
The hours of Adam's God-like sleep. Eve 

strayed 
And fell ; and that canker sin in the heart 
Of man has been working ever since. 

I traced the steps of primitive man ; 
Like as our pilgrim fathers fled their 



26 A DREAM. 

Native heath under the scourge of religious 

Persecution, so these children of the East 

Fled deep into the wilds of then unknown 

America, and worshipped their God then, 

As we now, according to the dictates 

Of conscience. They built their cabin sides of 

mud, 
And made dry their roofs by layers of bark ; 
Their bunks, soft strewn with hemlock twigs, 

made 
Downy beds for the persecuted pilgrims. 
They loved this land, new to them, this land of 

bloom 
And plenty. Rich the chase in deer and bear, 
Sea and forest birds. Seas swarmed with fish 

and furs ; 
God's bounty was everywhere. It seemed 
As if the hand of Providence guided them, 
For as they were in the distance pursued 
Across this neck of land by their foe. 



A DREAM. 27 

The ocean changed the course of her mighty 
Deep, shutting off communication by land, 
Between America, with Europe, Asia, 
And Africa, protecting these persecuted 
Souls from farther pursuit. The land that bore 
Verdure green in trees and vines, found a 

wat'ry 
Grave. Bowers of shading foliage 
On whose boughs birds took shelter, hatched 

their young. 
Lay as grounds for shoals of fish to spawn and 

feast. 
In nooks where grew fruitage choice, were 

pearly shells 
About all strewn ; seaweed wove in webs 'bout 
The trailing vines, while coral insects built 
About the trees. Shut off by seas, the battles 
Of the East could not harrass further these 
Persecuted children. The great waters 
Had opened their flood-gates, closing from them 



28 A DREAM. 

Farther pursuit ; they were free, and need bend 
To no will save the Great Spirit's. 

From other stars I saw the " waves 

Of the Atlantic Ocean for ages 

Beating against the shores of Africa 

And Spain," that wei'e ever wasting, wasting, 

until 
" The Straits of Gibraltar opened before them." 
I saw Niagara Falls open its 
Flood-gates near where Lewiston now stands, 
And gradually recede year by year. 
Eating its way back through thousands of years 
Until it occupied its present site. 

By looking from a star 

(To reach the earth it took its light nineteen 

Hundred years) , — I could see that speck of 

earth 
In all its unfoldments, as it swung 



A DREAM. 29 

In eternal space nineteen cent'ries 'go ! 

I there marked the fall of Jerusalem. 

Fi"om other stars saw Christ striding the flood, 

While his disciples were standing abashed 

At the suspension of Nature's great laws, 

And the accomplishment of this miracle. 

I noted all wars as in a pictui^e. 

From savage barb'rians to the conflict 

Of the Rebellion. 

I saw the curse and glory in all ages 

Of the world ! Vast and powerful empires, 

Great monarchs and their resplendent courts ; 

I saw clearly into all the secret 

Workings of those huge pow'rs ; how to nourish 

Their strength, and how best their opposing 

Opposition to withstand. 

I noted 
The artistic Greeks ; their quick insight 



30 A DREAM. 

Into all things that to noble actions led ; 

The downfall, by savage hosts of ^tolians, 

Of their oldest sanctuary of plastic art, 

Dodona ; and, too, the fertile Samos, 

Where rose the ancient temple of Juno, 

Whose seed nourished the God-heads of Grecian 

Art, devastated, laid w^aste by usurping 

Pow'rs. I dwelt so long and so earnestly 

On the sacred groves of Apollo, 'mid 

Whose shades the Grecian gods wei^e wrought, 

that I 
Was entranced, so wondrous was this age 
Of art. 

Then, changing events drew my attention 

To the panorama of my life that remained 

Indellibly fixed on the spacious 

Heavens, travelling from one sphere to another 

On the wings of light, yet ever present 

Like a shadow in the sun. My acts of 



A DREAM. 31 

Inhumanity seemed most prominent 
And would repeatedly cross my range of vision, 
However adjusted. To have these skeletons 
Of fate always before me, plagued me some- 
what. 
But suddenly I was attracted by 
A beautiful system of changing shades, 
Which so engrossed my attention for a time, 
I forgot these visions of sin, and marked 
The beautiful emerald tints, like blades 
Of grass, with orange blending, radiating 
Into the most exquisite shades of gold. 
The far distant suns shed reflections from 
Their mirrors, on opaque bodies that hung 
Poised in space, transposing them into gardens 
Of Eden, that I longed to possess. 

I drew a focus from a ray of light 

That brought my scenic to the vale of Oil Creek. 

It was summer, and the primitive growth 



32 A DREAM. 

Of nature lay palpitating with life 

And beauty o'er vale and hill. Where the 

broad 
River w^ound its silent way, by stars at night, 
The sun by day, to the mouth or source, 
The Indians canoeing, tracked their way. 

I saw the Indians at their sports ; some 

Anointing themselves with Seneca Oil, 

Others lounging carelessly in the shade. 

As quietly I sat watching these children 

In their accustomed habits, and listening 

To the dreamy murmur of a fovmtain 

In the vale, breathing its soft notes of slumber, 

I was startled to see the Indians 

In hot pursuit of a fleeing stag. 

My heart with ardor beat as he skirted 

The green hills, far swifter than the eagle's 

flight. 
On they sped, the hell-hounds were after him ! 



A DREAM. 33 

Close on his trail the arrows were flying. 

" Speed ! speed for your life ! You must speed, 

for death 
By the redskins is close at your side ! " On, 
On now he flew ; past fleet-running foxes. 
Past wildcats and hares, past mountains and 

gorges ; 
Past swift-running streams whose waters he'd 

quaflied ; 
Now sighting the hills near the broad flowing 
River ; missing the arrows that came 
From the quiver, he onward did speed. 
His sinews were strained to the sight of his eye. 
The waters that lay at the foot of the mountain, 
To reach was his hope for his life. 
Fleet he is speeding with flag in the air, 
Ev'ry nerve strained to its utrhost tension. 
Close and closer he's nearing his hoped-for 

goal ! 
Yet close and closer the hounds are on him. 



34 ^ DREAM. 

See ! he is trembling, he staggers, he reels ! 

Almost a life his efforts have cost. 

Now on the verge of safety, can it be 

That it's lost? Look ! the hounds are tearing 

Him dovv^n ! The red blood of life gushes 

Forth from his w^ounds. One more effort he 

makes, 
Goring the dogs as they rush for his life. 
Crimson with their blood his antlers are dyed, 
Coloring the waters as he plunges 
'Neath the dark-flowing tide. " Hurrah ! Hur- 
rah ! " 
I cried, as he swam bravely o'er and 'scaped 
'Neath the thicket on the far-distant shore. 

As I gazed around 'mid the sloping hills, 

On pine-fringed streams with nodding crests 

dipping 
Low and gracefully to the resinous aii. 
Where clustering vines and fragrant laurels 



A DREAM. 35 

Were blooming fresh in nature's wilds ; where 

wild rose 
And gay honeysuckle were twining close, 
And intermingling their sweets on passing 

breeze ; 
In religious worship saw I the children 
Of the forest. After the chief had rehearsed 
In love and war their conquests of the past, 
Till the sun westward drove across the sloping 
Hills to its rest, until night with her sable 
Wings kissed up the day in soft sleep, unveiling 
Her stars, and chasing her glor'ous canopy 
Of light behind the deep'ning shades of gloom, 
Sat the devout children of the forest 
Amid their worship. As they passed the calur 

met 
Of peace among their braves, Seneca Oil, 
As if by magic, arose to the surface 
Of the stream. The moon sank behind the hill ; 
Darkness lay like a pall over the face 



36 A DREAM. 

Of earth. As the torch-bearer with steady 
Hand, unfaltering step, moved forward and 

dipped 
His light amid the oleaginous fluid, 
The great fire in a golden, lambent glow 
Of flame shot above their bending forms, 
While they chanted forth in unison : — 

"Oh, Great Spirit! 
Mighty art Thou ! Thy power doth far surpass 
The wild waste with all its rocks and streams, 
With all its hills and vales. We love Thee, 
As we love the shade of the wood at noonday 

heat. 
We love Thee as the dew the flowers ; 
As the earth the sun ; as the hunter the chase. 
Guide us to hunting-grounds whei^e birds and 

beasts 
Are feasting in the shades ; where streams are 

filled 



A DREAM. 37 

With otter, mink, fish and foAvl. Make us 

keen 
Of sight, quick of ear, ~ 

So detecting all trails that lead to danger. 
Like as autumnal leaves are swept by whirlwinds 
Sweep away the pale-faces from our shores. 
Drive them across the great waters that they 
May not come in the dark night, with soundless 
Steps like snowflakes' fall, and murder our sleep. 
Drive them from us that we may not in fear 
Rest on our tomahawk and bow. Drive them 
From us that a cloud may lift from the face 
Of our race ; that the sighing of our hearts 
Will be no more ; that the wrath in our eyes 
May soft'n ; that our voices, like hollow winds. 
May not be mournful. Drive them from us 
That our squaws' hearts may not be sad ; that 

they 
May not raise the wail of grief for our braves 
Slain in battle. Like a cloud before the wind 



30 A DREAM. 

They have driven us tow^ards the setthig 
Sun, seeking our lives like Kichemanatou, 
The god of evil ; slain our braves w^hose spirits 
Novs^ are shaking the shaggy locks of the w^ood, 
And whispering to us on the passing breeze 
Of ' Revenge ! ' No more shall we hear their 

whoop 
In the chase ; no more their bows twang in our 
Defence ; no more the scalp of the foe 
Shall hang from their belts. The pale-faces have 

sent 
Them to their long home. The Evil spirit 
Is in the pale-faces ! Drive them from us, 
That we may build our wigwams, raise our 

corn. 
Hunt and live many moons from now in peace. 
At last guide us safe through the dark river 
Of death to the forests of our lost braves." 

As those savage children looked upon 



A DREAM. 39 

The towering wall of fire, they worshipped 

It as a deity. Again and again 

Their shouts of praise went forth to the Great 

Spirit. 
Again and again the echo from the, hills 
Fell back upon the ear, till morn broke forth, 
Kissing up the dew from off their brows, 
And closing this simple but devout worship 
Of their Deity. 

I marked the development of Petroleum, 
Tracing it from the heathen fire-worshippers 
To the blanket gathei-ing Oil merchant 
Selling it as a sov'reign cure for aches and 

pains ; 
On through decades of years, till the clumsy 
Haymaker was set in diamonds 
From its still further development 
And commercial value. 
I saw thousands of people, like a hurricane, 



4© A DREAM. 

Sweep the land, rush on to the Oil region, 
Secure leases, drill wells, until Oil Creek vale 
Was a very fount of Oil, flowing 
To waste unceasingly. Short of baiTels, 
Short of tanks, no pipe-lines then, as since. 
To checker the land like a spider's netting. 
And convey the crude Oil safe to market ; 
But four thousand teams, and hundreds of flat- 
boats 
In daily rounds could not transport the crude 

Oil 
To railroads distant, fast enough to relieve 
The glutted tanks that sat buried in the wealth 
Of their overflowing contents. 

As I gazed on this scene. Nature seemed hurt. 
And in her sobbing pulsations sent forth 
A stream of Oily tears that came welling 
Up from her lacerated heart, as if weeping 
For the wrong-doing of man. 



A DREAM. 41 

The confined gas 
From the way-down bo welly depths of earth, 
In its spontan'ous rising to earth's surface 
Flayed the rich green Oil into yellow foam, 
That floated like flakes of gold on the em'rald 
Oily surface of the tanks, then like heat went 

escaping 
From the pipe in rings, floating far and wide 
In the generous air. 

I saw hundreds of towns in the Oil region 

Rise like magic, and vanish like mist 

Before a summer's day. 

I could trace in different periods 

Of my life, the husbandman tilling 

His beautiful green and golden-ripe 

Harvest lands. I could note the mellow dawn 

Shed its soft lustre o'er Pennsylvania's hills. 

And the autumnal tints in a thousand 

Colors, beautiful, changing. 



42 A DREAM. 

Methought I could hear 
The sih'ery tones of trickling stream 
As it wound its way through Oil Creek vale, 
Past yielding wells, on, on past Oil farms rich, 
To the river Alleghany it took 
Its course. I could see flowing wells throwing 
Their golden spray into the derricks high 
That glisten'd in the sun's beams like rainbow 

hues, 
Diamond-sprinkled, or like Heav'n's jewels 
Goodly set in varied shades sparkling in the 

sky. 

I took note of the pompous, wise Professor, 

Who in the sorcery of his wits. 

Where the hills meet the vales, went groping 

'long 
The ground with a forked witch-hazel twig, 
Locating an Oil well for some innocent, 
Unsuspecting, gullible fellow. 



A DREAM. 



43 



Too, the Oil-smeller, with his nose to the earth 
Went snuffing the secrets from the womb of 
Nature — 

The spiritualistic mediums 
Gathered information from departed souls 
And located Oil-wells according 
To their direction, which, notwithstanding, 
From a higher pow'r were not always produc- 
tive. 
From the punctured soil gushed a min'ral Oil 
That lit the spots of earth yet unhallowed 
By the sun. Along our streets, and at our 
Hearth-stones Nature's gas shed a welcome ray. 

Her golden glow of wealth in my full purse 
Like di'monds shone. Far out upon the sea 
The Oily fluid glowed, a ruby beacon 
To the mariner. Like a divine thought 
It has shed its g-lamour o'er all the world. 



44 ^ DREAM. 

I noted all the changes, diflerent, 
In the " Oil Fever," from the first coming 
In of the Drake-well to my crawning effort 
In Oil producing. ' I watched with pleasure 
My dazzling triumph, "The S. I. Co.," 
Bud and blossom into the " S. O. Co.," 
Which rolled on in its greedy flood until 
It swept the world, developing a maw 
Insatiable. 

I saw the world in its development 
From beginning through ages of mis'ry 
And lustre. I saw the earth when its cascades. 
Cataracts, nodding woodlands, hills and vales 
Were by water submerged, again and again. 
Then I walked with the husbandman while turn- 
ing 
The sod, and tasted sweet the breathing odors 
Of newly opened furrows. I marked 
America's patriarchs cluster like stars 



A DREAM. 45 

To beat bacK English despots, that with hand 

Mighty were trying to hold them under 

The monarchial yoke. I saw Liberty 

Take shape amid the primitive forests 

Of America ; woodmen felling the trees, 

The log cabin spring up ; fields of waving grain 

Shoot forth ; heard the song of the reaper, 

The tingling of the herd-bell, until all 

Nature teemed with life and liberty 

Amid this grand Republic. 

But in the midst of my meditations, 
St. Peter interposed and bade me follow. 
Down, down we flew, our wings dipping sweetly 
The rainbow hue of the star-spangled Heavens ; 
On we flew, through gleaming fields of aste- 
roids. 
Disturbing not the spirit of night, 
Nor yet the drowsy ferry-man on his 
Nocturnal rounds, whose great business 



46 A BREAM. 

I'd destroyed, but who yet goes mournfully, 
Silently on his way. Still on we flew. 

After travelling several 
Billions of miles, we directed our course 
By a flick'ring ray of light shooting forth 
From a bright star of the twelfth magnitude, 
Whose waning glow from starting-point to earth 
Is four thousand years en route^ trav'ling two 

hundred 
And thirty thousand miles in a second, 
A distance of twenty-three thousand billions 
Of miles. 

Down, down we winged, on past Neptune, 
On past Uranus floating sol'tary 
In the gloomy distance of giddy space. 
On, on past myriads of solar systems, 
From whose shades of gold and green, blue and 
red, 



A DREAM. 47 

Shone forth in a unison of soft colors of 
The most ravishing shades of beauty to greet us. 
Oh ! with what an unimaginable charm, 
Clothed in gorgeous splendor, hung the glitt- 

'ring 
Lights in space. We passed ruby moons, glim- 

'ring 
Stars of emerald hue ; large opal suns, 
All shining with irridescent glory ! 
This heavenly jewelry soft'ning into 
Varied shades, beautiful, illumined my track 
Through space. 

We swiftly rushed past mighty orbs. 

Whose "marble beams" in lustre, heat, and 

light. 
Out-vied the sun. Then, slowly on with slack'n'd 
Speed and resting mien we moved through hazy 

blue 
Of dreamy ether in an ecstacy 



48 A BREAM. 

Of delight. Again on, my soul's propelling 

pow'i" 
Forced me, winged with flight to outstrip the 

fleetest 
Ray of light. Down, down we flew, deviating 
Our course to shun Saturn in the seventh 
Heavens, under whose malevolent rays 
The Producers and Independent Refiners were 

born. 
Filling them full of foulest contagions. 
Paralysis, gout, abscesses, obstructions 
Of the heart and liver; breeding discord 
And contention in their souls. As for a base 
Purpose, some power from the bowelled deep 
Hath fixed thee in the Heav'ns, thou detested 
Plague spot. 

On, on, swiftly on we flew, past 

The polluting air of that most loathsome 

Planet, Saturn, till we neared the smiling, 



A DREAM. 49 

Refulgent rays of Jupiter, shining 
Forth to meet us. We held our course direct 
Across her bright, broad expanse of surface, 
Anon dipping low to rest on mountain 
Peak our flight. 

Methought I then gazed around 

In a bewilderment of pure delight ; 

For all things were beautifully strange to me. 

The fruit, the flowers, the grain, and the soil. 

All animated and vegetable life 

Were of a most ravishing symmetry. 

The ant'lopes nimbly bounded from jewelled 
Rock to rock, plucking sweet herbage, to me 
Of unknown growth, which fed their lives and 

love 
Alike. They so fondly caressed each other, 
I bethought me, if the children of earth 
Could have seen that spirit of devoted love 



50 A DREAM. 

In the brute creation of Jupiter, 

They would have slunk for shame, it so far 

surpassed 
All human love that e'er w^as seen on earth. 
Ev'ry branch, ev'ry quiver in each leaf 
Was sacred to love ; through ev'ry bower 
And palace in the land was heard the voice 
Of love. From the songs of Nature that came 
In snatches on the fragrant breeze, was love ! 
There was nothing in Nature that was void, 
For through all things sweet love seemed mur- 
muring. 
I saw great trees with massive roots clinging 
To ci-evice side and around diamond rock, 
Whose glaring space was cover'd part with lucid 
Green and golden shades of moss, while other 

part 
In gorgeous color was exposed to view. 
From each pore the trees sent forth such frag- 
rance, 



A BREAM. 51 

It gave to the air a soft, 
Dreamy delight. 

As we wandered o'er this broad jewelled ex- 
panse, 
With transports we gazed in the valley below. 
On Jupiter's most ravishing beauties. 
We noted the vessels on the broad green, 
Glimm'ring sea, going to and from their marts, 
Swept ever on by the mighty wind, swift 
As in the blue void winged — no ships of 

earth, 
Puritan or Mayflower, so fleet as they. 

Low in the vale anon our way we took. 
Passing stupendous vine-clad palaces ; 
Over sweet murmuring rills and winding meads ; 
On, past blooming banks of velvet flowers ; 
Winding on, throixgh, and past vast sylvan 
shades, 



52 A DREAM. 

To the haunts of wood-nymphs we held our 

way. 
At our approach the nymphs lipped sweet their 

songs, 
Filling our souls with all the harmony 
Of Heaven's melodies. 

How soft the perfumed breezes blew ! 

As to the wood we gently drew : 

Voices murmuring in the bow'rs, 

Nymphs were gath'ring bright-hued flowers, 

Some were reclining on the ground, 

Others dancing to music's sound. 

Ev'ry tuini they new graces showed. 

As from the lute soft music flowed. 

Flushed by the giddy, whirling maze, 
On ruby cheeks 'twas sweet to gaze ; 
While down their necks that 'lectric glowed, 
Begemmed, their silken tresses flowed. 



A BREAM. 53 

Scarfs of gems of the brightest hue 
Swung, as they whirled the ether blue. 

From their ears hung pearls that softly glowed, 

While from their necks fair rubies showed. 

On their fingers the rarest stone 

In countless rays like meteors shone. 

Here love poured forth its sweetest show'r 

To living grace in ev'ry bow'r. 

All Nature nestled as a dove, 

All perfect planned by hand of Love. 

We lingered long until the dusky eve 

Broke in, then decked in flowers appeared their 

Queen, the most exquisite beauty e'er was seen. 

In a sweet dignity of royal birth 

The divine working of her charms shone forth. 

For her people she was pregnant with love ; 

Their faith in her was deep as mighty space 
'bove. 

In ev'ry movement a noble self-repose, 



54 A DREAM. 

A Queen of queens her ev'ry grace but shows ; 
Such par'mount grandeur on earth ne'er was 

seen ; 
There ne'er was compeer to this woodland 

queen. 

As along over Jupiter's bosom 
Of unparalleled soil, the dappled sun 
Serene arose, kissing sweetly the melting 
Dew from refreshed Nature, I stood amazed, 
In transports at Jupiter's unfoldments. 
Broad fields of rip'ning grain lay before me ; 
Herds of cattle ; great cities cut and reared 
From diamond quarries loomed up so bright, 
The changing hues dazzled my spirit sight. 

As we onward took our course, people trooped 
After us, decked in garlands of rarest 
Flowers (some to me very like the tube-rose 
And orange blossom), went strewing them 'long 



A DREAM. 55 

Our path. 'Mong those children of inno- 
cence 
God reigned in the heart supreme. Transgres- 
sion, 
None there ; no sin, all a un'ty of love 
And saint-like pur'ty. All things so beautiful 
To the spirit-eye so perfect all work. 
One might have mistaken it for the abode 
Of angels ! 

The animals found so easy 
Their support, in pleasure and harmony 
Dwelt as one family. The spotted leopard, 
Lion and mottled fawn (as I would call them) , 
Mingled and sported in the same forest. 
Plumy birds of passage, fearless of man. 
Winged their swift course unmolested, over 
Running streams, and through fields of rip'ning 

grain, 
From zone to zone. 



56' A DREAM. 

Birds of song ever warbled their sweet lays 

In the never-changing spring ; singing praise 

To new glories that awaited upon 

The dawning of each moi^n, or sang to sleep 

The dewy eve to its ambrosial shades. 

There the verdant banks of flowers ever 

Bloomed unasked ; new buds putting forth, ere 

old 
Beauties died away. 

With unalloyed pleasure, 
I watched the twilight deepen into sable 
Gloom, over forest and o'er mountain-tips 
'Till sleep, that " balm of life," rested on Jupi- 
ter's 
Fair domains. Amid this quiet profound 
The teeming soil sent forth a mellow warmth 
Of budding beauty, so closely linking 
Animate and inanimate nature 
That Jupiter seemed the one sacred spot 



A DREAM. 57 

Blest by God. The spontaneous growth of life's 
Nourishment gave food and drink like a nurse ; 
Flesh and blood were fed and watered from her 
Prolific harvests without an effort. 
There were such existing relations between 
Jupiter and her children, one could pluck 
A jewel from the sod and in its crystal 
Depths, see reflected the pur'ty of her life. 

Jupiter seemed to say to her nurslings, 

" I know you all, you are my children, flesh 

And bone of my getting ! You are of me, 

A part and parcel of my great whole. 

I love you all, yet I'm proud of my hills, 

Forests, slopes and vales ; they all obey my 

laws. 
Pulsate and throb to the beating of my 
Desires. The mallow-grass that's filled 
With little insects, the flowers, sipped by 
Murmuring bees, are of me. My nature 



58 A DREAM. 

Thrills with the dawning of new life. I enthuse 
All with love, as if the rock, tree, turf 
And animate nature was the common 
Father, mother of all life embodied ' 
In one creature." 

The people of Jupiter in religious 
Liberties, domestic relations. 
The magical splendor of their art, 
Internal and external developments 
Are crowned with such a halo of glory 
As no other world can hope to achieve. 

We winged on, over 

The blooming sod of Jupiter, whose fragrance 

Led sweet our trail. ('Tis said, Jupiter's soft 

beams 
Shed lustre o'er the birth of all 
Great men), and whose refulgent rays gave 

forth 



A DREAM. 59 

Unus'al brightness when I first drew breath 
Of mortal life. 

It was said, there were great 

Freaks in Nature, before unknown to man 

At my birth. New suns appeared in the 

Heav'ns 
To illume this greatest of all occasions ! 

New stars of the first magnitude shone forth 
In the blue depths serene of boundless space ; 
While all of the planets in the radius 
Of billions of miles, shone unparalleled 
Forth, on this, the most peerless occasion. 
But the earth, ne'er before was in such rage. 
Nature, in her ever mysterious 
Workings, held strange freaks. Black clouds, 

demon-like 
Frowned o'er the face of Heaven, while the 

earth, 



6o ' A DREAM. 

Like a stagg'ring drunkard, reeled to and fro, 
Shaking its poles to the very centre. 

Through all the wildness of her nature 
Earth opened up the channels of her flood 
And vom'ted forth from her unsated womb 
Huge slimy monsters of the deep. She shook 
Her avalanches, whose projecting peaks 
Hung like a lowering pestilence 
Over doomed cities ; sending grim teiTor 
To heart of man. 

It was predicted at my birth, 

Of me, after a certain number of years 

I " should fill the world with dread and woe ! 

Bring all living creatures down to my feet ; 

Cause mis'ry and suff''ring to man before 

Unknown ; making earth quake, shiv'ring man's 

soul with fear. 
While at my passing out earth would explode, 



A DREAM. 6l 

And shoot forth into space, a worthless wreck ! " 
Thus far all's proved true 'twas prophesied 
Of me, and why not all the rest ? 

On we flew, past Mars in its blood glimm'ring 

light, 
Shedding forth its horrors hast'ning our flight 
To the sun's burning rays ; there we lent 
Extra speed to our pinions, and swifter 
Than thought we flew through burning rays. 

Then we , 

Onward winged till we reached our sister 

worlds, Venus 
And Murcury. 

Still on we winged, till we scaled the giddy 
Heights aloft and seated ourselves on the horn 
Of the crescent moon, there to bethink us 
And take a prospectus of my gloomy world - 
below. 



62 A DREAM. 

With St. Peter when first setting out, 
I, as if perforce he took me, reluctantly 
Followed. At the prodigious aerial flight 
I was somewhat affrighted. Towards the disk 
Of the silver moon soaring up, o'er white 
Pillowed clouds, on through the blue sky front- 
ing 
The stars, leaving behind earth's shades, we 

winged. 
In the distance vast lay my torments, for 
To fall was death ! if lost, become a wanderer 
In space. 

Still we onward wafted, 
I the while keeping sight of my sun that 
Seemed to shine with unusual lustre 
Until to a star dim and faint, waning. 
Sunk into the distance, hiding from me 
Its identity in the midst of the 
Milky way. It seemed as if a cloud, 



A DREAM. 6:^ 

Creamy white, had veiled her surface, yet 'mid 

Its translucent folds shone soft opalescent 

Hues, fixing my ken as if tranced by its 

Beauteous maze. So far from home being, 

I at first mourned the awful calamity. 

And inward perplexed lay with thovights of evil 

Nature framed, being fearful I could not 

Return to my possessions. I was about 

To lose heart, when straight from the mental 

strain 
I was relieved by being endowed with 
Angelic range of vision that brought to light 
My world and its attending spheres as if close 
At hand. 

Again being myself, with pleasure I viewed 
The charming scenes that were dotted over 
This vast field of space. The changing systems 
Of gold'n gales from pellucid depths of color 
Reminded me of one grand flower garden. 



64 . A DREAM. 

All the hues and shades of plants and flowers 
Were pictured in this array of Heav'n's jewels. 
The binary suns, white and purple, 
Yellow and blue, gold and red, changing 
Periodically, variable, from 
A maximum to a minimum of 
Intensity, ravished my senses 
With their most wonderful beauty. 
As I looked o'er 
Our nebula (I might say mine) of thirty 
Millions of worlds I bethought me, " What an 
Improvement I shall make in the condition 
Of affairs in this unorganized 
System of worlds when I assume control ! 
'Twill become apparent how I shall develop 
Matters farther on. Here is the hand that 
Will hold the sceptre of power and at 
Pleasui'e wield it. 'Tis but a mission 
Providence has assigned me ; for what it's 
Worth I'll use it. I'll eat into the commerce 



A DREAM. 65 

Of creation, as into the vitals 

Of man, consumption. As death fattens on 

life . . 

I'll grow rank on life's substance. The infinite 
Riches that lie before me I can but 
Admire, in wonder silent. 
I'll discover in boundless space, new spheres 
With Oil laden, with immeasurable 
Stratas of lead, zinc, copper, hills of 
Solid iron, rushing streams whose sands are 
Intermingled with gold and precious stones. 
Ocean like deserts of exhaustless fertil'ty, 
These multiform products will all enhance 
My stores of wealth. I will still on, opening up 
A multiplicity of worlds in distance 
So vast the flight of soul scarce can reach, so 

vast 
Fancy cannot picture, nor figures compute 
This immensity of space, nor my 
Accruing wealth. 



66 A DREAM. 

" With deep int'rest and vision telescopic 

I view these nebula fields before me ; 

The arbitrary shades disappear and void 

Opens its world of wonders, wherein 

The mighty machinery of the Heav'ns 

Is only excelled by the vast viewless 

Void. All this wonder amid my little world 

Loses prestige and sinks in insignificance. 

I will for the present (continued I, still 

Self communing), establish a centre 

In each nebula making my head-quarters 

In my beloved star Jupiter ; this, of all 

My different organized systems to be 

The centre. But soft ! a difficulty 

Stupenduous will soon arise, from Jupiter's 

Not having a capacity to contain 

The wealth accumulating by my projected 

Scheme ; this will necessitate my building 

A world with dimensions prodigious. I will 

Take spheres, a multiplicity, and resolve 



A DREAM. 67 

Them into one great orb, scooped and hollowed 

Like an urn, to increase its capacity ; 

With vaults and cells for holding lucre ; 

All fire-proof, roofed with gold and set with 

precious 
Stones. Yes ! I will make such a world. I 

will 
Plant this world in the centre of operations 
Making it the recipient and observatory 
Of my entire domain. 
I will be in communication 
With each and ev'ry world in all the diff'rent 
Nebulce so as to note the earnings 
Of each individual sphere, and mark 
The reports to, and returns from the centre 
Of operations of each nebula. 
There is nothing in this arrangement but 
What is practical, and I shall put it 
Into operation at once. My expenses 
Will be slight, as I shall arrange for spirits 



68 A DREAM. 

To do the work, who, like chameleons. 

Shall feed upon air. " Let me see, how shall 

I manage this?" mused I ; '' the spirits now 

In Heaven, I may not control, but all 

Of those in Hell I think I can manage. 

And there is by far the largest percentage 

Below. This is what I will do, I'll bail 

Them out ! It can be done if I have to bribe 

The devil, and have their services 

For his considei-ation. I'll make him 

My foreman, to keep them in fear ; if they 

Become incorrigible he can subdue 

Them. There are some fearfully bad characters 

From the Oil regions that are now languishing 

In Hell, which, to keep in subjection, 

Will need the combined forces, and constant 

Vigilance of the Penal Powers, yet I 

Must needs have them, for most of them have 

had 
A large experience in the Oil business. 



A DREAM. 69 

And can take right hold and do the drilling for, 

And refining of Oil. I am going 

To test the territory for Oil 

On all of my possessions ; if anticipated 

Results follow I'll make the Oil business 

A prominent feature of my new domains. 

Yet there are some difficulties in the way ; 

Those very souls that I needs must have 

My work to execute I would fain leave 

In the Pool. Ah, well ! I'll through the week 

work 
Them, then deep in Hell drive them forth to 

languish, 
And abide their time Sundays. Holidays 
I'll sink them lower in the depths of woe to 

chafe 
And smite the air into eddying dusky 
WWrlwinds, that, moaning will mock their cries 
And lamentations sore, until, grief-tried 
And horror-stricken, they will plead for mercy ; 



70 A DREAM. 

Thus subdued from Hell come forth, penitent 
And obedient to work my will. 

" When bringing souls from the depths of grief 
And torments, with vicious designs, somewhat 
Subdued, I'll have them to understand 
By my suggestion and desire they were 
Released. This will make them revere me 
As a god, and thus I shall command more 
Work from them. Yet some few despoiled 

wretches 
From the Oil regions, the Producers and Inde- 
pendent 
Refiners, who somewhat tried my patience 
When they were on earth, by interfering 
With my schemes, and bowed reluctantly 
To my will, I'd still make acknowledge 
My superiority and again feel 
My pow'r. I'll have them feed upon Hell's 
diet, 



A DREAM. 71 

Brimstone, for all time, thus driving the corrup- 
tion 
From their blood in carbuncle-sores. I'll have 
Adders about them coiled with their ' venom'd 

stuck,' 
In torture dire lancing their fest'rings, putrid. 
While the pestilent sores are from their blood 
Forth-coming and they in grief lamenting, 
In mocking exposure I'll have them before 
My very eyes exhibited ; then chuckling 
I'll feed upon their misery until 
They pleading beg for relief, which for certain 
Considerations in obedience 
I'll grant them. This will be a humiliation 
Sore to their haughty souls and a triumph 

grand 
For me. I fear those souls that while on earth 
Murder committed, will of no service 
Be to me ; deep in the lower stratas 
Of Hell they will be so scourged with torture, 



72 A DREAM. 

That sore lamenting their time they can but 

spend. 
'Tis well, I'd shrink from this ' godless crew.' 
Some few souls there are, when they were on 

earth 
I had some slight regard for, now languishing 
In the Pool, abjured their heav'nly bliss 
By monopolizing certain commodities 
To the detriment and discomfort 
Of others ; to them, be it said, I acted 
With some consideration ; I'll give them 
My lightest employment, have them clean 

' Stills.' 

" Feasible are all my plans, and when 
I get matters systematized as I did 
The S. O. Company on earth, I will 
Then connect the different nebulae 
And planetary systems to my central 
Focus, with a ray of light both for sight 



A DREAM. 73 

And sound, no matter how far distant. 

With this telephone of sight and sound, I can 

Note the every day occurrences. 

Of transpiring events. Had I been 

Possessed w^ith ambition, I might 

Have developed this thought, and had my scheme 

In operation previous to this. 

I have no fear but that I can crush all 

Opposition that may present itself, 

And thus amass the wealth of the entire 

Creation. I will not drown more worlds, but 

In a commercial way, absorb the wealth 

Of each planet, until the people groaning 

Under the weight of poverty and oppression. 

Dying, will let slip their souls. While escaping, 

I will enlist these airy immortals 

Into my service to work as I may 

Dictate, feed them upon air-diet. 

And occasionly give them a little 

Recreation in Hell. 



74 A DREAM. 

" I will place a series of worlds 
In convenient groups to use as plants 
For vast Oil distilleries, and all the globes 
Containing Oil, at a close proximity, 
So, with a slight outlay of material 
I can pipe the Oil to my refining 
Int'rest. Having all under one supervision 
I can manufacture with much less expense. 
I will place my exporting and shipping 
Facilities under one organized head. 
Having millions of worlds in use for wharfage. 
And export shipping traffic. 
This will bring my several interests 
Together, under one management. Having 
Complete control of the Oil business, I'll chai-ge 
The people as much per gallon as my fancy 
Dictates, which will be no trivial sum. 
I will introduce a new system 
Of currency (having my own profile 
On the face of each coin) , to be used 



A DREAM. 75 

Universally throughout all creation. 

I'll establish mints, and do all the coining 

Myself; this to be done under an organized 

System of worlds similar to my Oil int'rests. 

For this work I shall need to secure spirits 

Known for honesty and integrity, 

Which will be difficult, they'd be so liable 

To spirit away the precious metals. 

For this work I must needs secure some 

Of the old Puritan stock if I have 

To search Heaven for such help. I will 

Also allow but one language spoken, 

The English, in order to do away 

With interpreters and a complication 

Of difficulties that would arise 

From a mixture of tongue. 

" Worlds that are prolific 

With tin and other valuable metals, 

I will place at a convenient distance 



*]6 A DREAM. 

From my refining interests, having 

The tin metal for the manufacture 

Of cans to be used in exporting Oil 

From sphere to sphere ; this will be done by 
great 

Air vessels flying through space fleet as thought, 

Manned by skilled spirits. I will allow 

No electric lights, or electricity 

Used, save in death, and that I will adopt 

As a mode of execution. I'll permit 

No gas used, or light save Oil, and that all 

Must come through me. If the Oil gives out, 

I might put in the Edison light, but 

I'll give no royalty on the invention. 

The desire for gold hath so goaded me on, 

That I as yet have made but a start 

And my projected scheme doth only approxi- 
mate 

An approach to my desire. I would 

Make a proviso touching upon my 



A DREAM. 77 

Refining plants. If I can the heat of Hell 
Control (no doubt but I can), my distilling 
Of Oil will therein be done ; this will o'ercome 
A series of difficulties that needs 
Must otherwise be perplexing ; bribing 
The Devil and taking souls out of their 
Natural sphere ; while not least but last, 
The enormous saving of fuel. 
Which alone would bring to my purse countless 
Millions. This is a generous thought. 
And further into the heat of Hell I'll look. 
Such results can I bring 'bout as controlling 
The ne'er consuming Penal fires, I'll astonish 
Creation ! Piping to save in conveyance 
Of crude Oil from sphere to sphere ; the worlds 
Teeming with Oil I will wheel convenient 
To the Pool, tap them, suck the Oil from their 
Bowels, tow them back to do their natural 
Work. I must soon manage to give the Devil 
An audience with me to see what 



78 A DREAM. 

Arrangement satisfactory I can 
Make for his lieat. 

" 'Tis true, while floating near the gates of 

flame 
The people these worlds occupying 
Will need salamanders to be, to withstand 
The overpressure of heat. But what odds 
To me if they should wither under the blight 
Of Hell? 'Twill, figuratively speaking, 
Only be a day sooner for them ; all 
Things considered, it may be for the best. 
Save many from a degradation deeper 
Who would have committed murder, then 

sunk 
Lower down within the pool ; by this mode 
The average will be better, thus the plane 
Of punishment higher and less. Like as 
To a nest of worms suspend'd from a tree- 
bough 



A DREAM. 79 

Burning, the people while anchored at Hell's 

gate 
On worlds laden with Oil will squirm. En- 
joyed 
I should have, had I in operation 
This scheme when in life and bloom was my 

little 
World ! A bath in Hell I'd given it. 
And contents. To the verge of attraction 
I should have towed it, then like as a fated 
Soul in Niagara's suction w^hirls on, on 
Ever faster until beneath the torrent 
Mighty is entombed, thus the Penal fires 
Mid all her torments would have drawn the 

world 
And contents in its vortex, there consumed it. 
By the substance of their bodies, the souls 
Being scorched would like withering leaves, 

cringe 
Float and flutter in the blighting heat. 



8o A DREAM. 

"But stay, 
I would not the Oil sacrifice ! The souls 
Would be of no consideration. 
For diversion and on great occasions 
Such as my birthday, those worlds whereon 
The people have become poor and caused me 
Some annoyance, and I have extracted 
All the valuables I'll have carted to 
And consumed ni Hell. 

" I have spirit-pow'rs 
Suggested for moving worlds, if they'll not serve 
My purpose I have still another 
Expedient which is as follows, as to the result. 
No question. For illustration, my little 
World, should I desire, along beside Jupiter 
Placed, a vast cable I should from earth 
To Jupiter stretch, to each planet fasten 
The ends ; the rotation of Jupiter, being 
The heavier body, by the winding 



A DREAM. 8 1 

Of the rope draw Earth perforce to any 
Point desired ; the two existing planets 
Between. By this system to any place in space 
I can tow planets. From rays of light I'll 
Weave the ropes drawn from spheres far distant, 

yet 
In direct lines of those to be moved. 
To put a perfect finish to this work 
I'll have temper'd the rays of light with Petro- 
leum 
Heat, insuring strength and durability. 

" I'd have no gas used, erewhile I said ; this 

will 
Be true in one sense, no manufactured gas 
I will have used but all natural gas. 
For economy and profit I'll introduce 
And use in Oil distillation, providing 
No terms with the Devil satisfactory 
Can be made for heat. No doubt some of my 



82 A DREAM. 

Old worlds, that for ev'ry other purpose 
Are useless, hold concealed in their bowels 
Trillions upon trillions of feet cubit 
Of natural gas. If this be so, I can 
It utilize to as equal good advantage 
As Oil, and at less expense. Out of a group- 
ing 
Of worlds choice, those that are the most densely 
Populated, rich in domestic comforts 
And conveniences of life, I'll select. 
As another blessing, pipe my gas to them 
For fuel. I'll a system organize 
For convenience and profit, to that 
Similar I had on earth ; however, instead 
Of so much per-month charging, by the foot 
I'll sell. I'll wheel these worlds north or out 
Of the direct rays of their suns ; push them 
To the cold latitudes ; increase consumption 
Of gas by an extra pressure of frigid 
Temperature, the while my profit increasing. 



A DREAM. 83 

" A practical man 
Might deem it impossible to connect 
Worlds that are constantly in rotary 
Movement with pipe, but I think that affairs 
I have arranged so as with rotation 
Not to interfere, or with most freaks 
That nature may see fit to indulge in. 
The scheme I've projected is to connect them 
With swing and swivel joints, this will of rotation 
And parallel movement admit, which is 
Sufficient. If this system does not work, 
Arrange, I will, the orbs to suit my 
Convenience ; thus all complicated 
Difficulties bridging. 

" Save in executions, I've intimated, 
I'd have no electricity used, but 
Reflection careful confirms the necessity 
In each world of establishing a telegraphic 
System, both for my profit and the people's 



84 , A BREAM. 

Convenience. In civilization the worlds 

That are young and backward, I'll forward 

Bring with the rapidity of thought, at once 

I'll establish the great civilizer 

Of creation, a system of Education ; 

Make the people prosperous, happy. 

And thus early have them contributing 

To me from a rich, productive virgin soil. 

Also, I must introduce to facilitate 

Trade (my profit always considered), a system 

Of well regulated railroads. I'll have 

No commerce commissioners to balk 

My arrangements but have all conducted 

As a government affair under one 

Organized head ; as all public necessities, 

Such as railroads, telegraphs and telephones 

Should be. 

*' I'll arrange all traffic conveyances 
So they will be as easy of access 



A DREAM. 85 

To one as another and with the same 

Efforts, like results will follow. This 

Equality will encourage an active . 

Spirit in trade, thus good effects will ensue. 

I'll have no monopolies but what I 

Establish. Centralizing money to 

Throttle commerce is dangerous to my 

Interest and the general welfare 

Of the common herd. As much as practical, 

I must do away with money power, 

(Save in myself) ; it breeds extremes, poverty 

And affluence ; extremes breed trouble. 

I must try if possible, to keep the people 

On the same level, so mingling will assist 

Each other. Of course, eventually 

My steady drain will absorb their wealth, 

But they will go down on the same plane, 

Embraced by unsympathizing poverty 

And sympathizing friends, attributing 

The unavoidable results to fate. 



86 A DREAM. 

" As I am confident the proposed system 

Will not work to an advantage on all 

Of my spheres, I shall need to study, somewhat, 

Into the dispositions of the numerous 

Kinds of human life that my difF'rent worlds 

Are peopled with, to determine the best mode 

Of government to subject them to. 

Varying soil and climate will produce 

A multiplicity of temperaments. 

Hence diff'rent systems in government will 

Need be enforced. It is possible and quite 

Probable, on some of my planets I shall 

Be compelled to organize a militant 

Form of government and force compulsory 

Co-operation, bring combatants 

And non-combatants together at the 

Bayonet's point. Through militant power 

I can force people into a bulwark 

Of defence against themselves, thus forming 

A structure that will stoutly resist change. 



A DREAM. 87 

As I develop this thought, it rather 
Pleases me. I'll centralize government 
Administrations through coercive movement 
So that it will run like clockwork at my 
Pleasure. I'll have an organization 
Of spies to examine into and report 
Upon the working of high officials 
And the people's doings, all being subject 
To my investigation and disposal. 

" Under my militant form of governinent 

I'll force the people to yield to me their 

Earnings, beyond that required to sustain 

A miserable existence. All must be 

Completely at my disposal, labor, 

Property and person. I'll subject the people 

To such a severe discipline so that I 

Can transplant them to this or that locality 

As I may direct without their having 

A voice in the matter. All persons, 



88 A DREAM. 

Under pain of death will be required 
To render a true account of moneys 
Earned, and how disposed of to me. No citizen 
Can belong to himself or family, 
But, like chattels, to the government ; 
(Which is myself.) I'll allow no man 
A privilege but that I grant ; all will 
Be held responsible to my headship ; 
Individuals, military, 
Political and judicial. I'll engender 
Into the militant pow'r such brutality 
That to commit murder will be but pleasure. 
I'll make crime habitual to them, so 
Liberty and life will be easily 
Disposed of. I'll force the people into 
A blind obedience ; I'll allow them 
To have no will of their own ; their will must 
Be mine ; they must have a passive expectance, 
And accept what comes to them through my en- 
tailed 



A DREAM. 89 

System, without a murmur. My power shall 

be 
Absolute ; I'll absorb property, liberty 
And life at pleasure. 

" This militant system will only be 
Enforced where it is absolutely necessary ; 
On some of my worlds I'll be more lenient. 
I'll arrange to give the people leases, with the 
Consideration that half their product, all metal, 

mineral 
Wealth, and precious stones shall recur to me. 
The worlds that have grown old in sei'vice 
And lost their vitality, I will use 
As places to banish souls, those that are slightly 
Disobedient ; leave them in durance vile. 
And dumb silence for a time to suck their gums 
On the airless orbs for sustenance. This will 
Bring them under subjection. The old worlds 
That I cannot use, I will explode to clear 



90 A DREAM. 

Space of stagnant matter ; the defunct orbs 
Useless rolling, concealed within their bowels 
Precious stones may be hid. All this debris 

dead 
Is not lost, its latent forces are but 
Hid. Out of this substance of seeming worth- 
less 
Solids, I will effect new orbs, gather 
What mineral wealth they contain, then have 
Spirits wheel the debris down to the 
Penal fires, to consume it. Out of the smoke 
And mist arising from Hell's vapors, create 
New worlds, the uniting elements 
Producing chemical action will again 
Bring forth gold and precious stones, then 

smould'ring 
Down to an inorganic life will shoot forth 
Rank growths of vegetation, that covering 
The soil in windfalls and drifts, which decom- 
posing 



A DREAM. 91 

Will produce Petroleum Oil. The internal 

Eruptions from pent-up gases will shoot forth 

In earthquakes, volcanoes, enclosing 

In their boweled depths this accumulation 

Of Oil ; holding it as in a reservoir 

For future development. 

" I v^ill set this planetary system 

Under such an organized law of operation 

As ne'er was known before ; for my convenience 

Destroying woidds and building worlds that will 

Eclipse anything ever befoi-e wheeled 

In void. If I'd had the management 

Erewhile, of these heav'nly orbs, the affairs 

Of space would have been more systematically 

Arranged ; as it is I will make a complete 

Revolution in the solar system. 

I should not have had any dead stock in worlds 

On my hands, I should have had them all 

Advantageously utilized, previous 



92 A DREAM. 

To their dotage. The one I'm sitting on, as 'tis, 
It's not wortli the powder 'twill take to explode 
It, though, possibly there may be a few 
Gems concealed in its inner crevices. 

" ' Can I manage this stupendous scheme? ' 
(I asked myself, thoughtfully). 'Ah, yes! 

yes!' 
Confidently replied my heai^t. Just look, 
I mused, at what I used to do on my 
Little world ; it was a small matter 
Beside this, 'tis true, but it gave me practice, 
And confidence in iny ability. 
To review somewhat. I held the Railroads 
In the palm of my hand ; they dare not issue 
A rate I was opposed to, and made all 
Rates that I demanded of them. I controlled 
The Oil market and the turpentine trade ; 
Was prominent and successful in the 
Western land grab ; whatever I invested 



A DREAM. 93 

In, proved successful. If there was any 
Loss to be sustained, I made other shoulders 
Bear it than mine. The Petroleum Oil 
Market was the base and backbone of my 
Operations ; I absorbed all who dealt 
Therein. It amused me somewhat to see 
The ' Buckwheats ' sell Oil-farms, or make a 

strike 
In Oil, securing a snug fortune 
By accident, as it were, and attributing 
It to some imaginary smartness 
Of theirs, then go on the Oil market 
With their wealth and a self-puffed-up opinion, 
A di'mond gracing their shirt front, in lustre 
Not moi'e luminous than the ruby tints 
Of their nose ; speculate, win a few dollars ; 
Ever suspecting 'twas through some smart- 
ness 
Of theirs ! though one might ask, no one could 
tell, 



94 ^ DREAM. 

Wherein they were smart ; they could not tell 

themselves ! 
But the while wearing an air of importance, 
Thinking the Oil market could not run without 
Their assistance, that they needs must have their 
Say in its manipulation, to keep 
It alive. 

"/was the power behind the throne ! I'd 
Allure them on, like water, wanton boys, 
Venturing farther and farther in the stream. 
Until swept away by the flood. I would 
Load them up with large quantities of Oil, 
Having the while some of my supernumeraries 
Whisper around that ' the market was on 
The advance ! ' to make them eager for the bait. 
When they were well loaded with high-priced 

Oil 
Let the market drop back a few cents, 
Keeping them paying storage as long as 



A DREAM. 95 

I deemed it practical, then force the market 

Down to a beggar's price, increasing 

The charges on storage, until they were 

Compelled to sell their Oil way below 

The buying price ; thus stoi'age and shrinkage 

In price would swamp them, financially. 

This was but one of my schemes ; I had various 

Ways of tripping them, always successful 

And where they least expected it. I found 

It the most potent to cast my line 

For the heavy dealers first, and bring them 

Floundering ashore securely hooked. 

Of course, during my angling for the large fish, 

Some few small speculators won by taking 

The reverse of the market from those I hooked ; 

But what odds.? the money they made was as if 

Loaned. When I wanted it I set my nets 

And entrapped them. 'Twas enjoyment to me 

But it made them squirm, and if ever they 

Struggled to the surface, again, like as flies 



96 A DREAM. 

For sweets gather around a molasses cask, 
For lucre, they would at it, and again 
Be fleeced. 

"As brains are 
A simple compound of albumen, fat. 
Water, and phosphate salts, there can be no 
Reasonable excuse for a mistake, 
But I've sometimes believed that through the 

Oil regions 
The Lord must have substituted alcohol 
For water, such a reckless exhibition 
Of thought was displayed by this so-called 
' Wise faction of speculators.' It was 
So easy for me to fleece them, it became 
Monotonous and I had to devise 
New schemes for my diversion in land 
Speculations. 

*' The Independent Refiners were the most 



A BREAM. 97 

Perplexing crew that e'er I encountered 

During all my experience in business ; 

Not so much for their executive ability 

As from the various vv^ays they had to annoy 

Me. I tried to buy them up to keep them 

Out of the trade, but I was only lending 

Fuel to the flame, for I gave them 

Exorbitant prices for their works and they 

Would use, as I might say, my money 

To fight ine with ; build new refineries 

With an increase of capacity to flood 

The refined market with low-priced Oil. 

Then I tried to agree upon a uniform 

Price with them to sell Oil at, but this was 

An utter impossibility, they were 

Always slopping over in some way, couldn't 

keep 
To the agreement, so I left them disgusted. 
These were the only points wherein I was 
Weak ; however, I soon took another tack 



98 A DREAM. 

Which proved more successful ; bought up Rail- 
roads ! 
Used ev'ry means to throw obstructions in their 
Way, I put what I called the freezing pi-ocess 
To them. I, on illuminating Oil 
Increased the freight on all their shipments, 
Having the Railroads give me a rebate 
On same. I dropped prices where they sold on 
Illuminating Oil below the cost 
To manufacture. I had the Railroads 
Hold back their shipments until their customers 
(Where they sold at a profit) countermanded 
Their orders. I had men paid to invent 
Schemes to harass their movements ; I placed 
All annoyances conceivable 
In their way to thwart their success, until 
They were at my mercy. It is most 
Wonderful what an energetic man 
Can do if he sets his whole heart and mind 
To the issue ! 



A DREAM. 99 

" One might wonder why I flooded the world, 
As I left hut a straggling lot of Oil men, 
Like as a bird with wing broken, half famished, 
Seeking here and there for a paltry living. 
I confess 'twas a shame to take advantage 
Of such weak creatures, but finding ev'ry one 
Plotting for my ruin, I became somewhat 
Desperate and deemed it best to exterminate 
The whole race of man, though I must confess 
I felt a few pangs of remorse when I 
Saw the work of destruction go on. 

" 'Tis true I held regal sway, 
Sat like a god above the underlings 
On that mighty throne. Monopoly. 
Commerce was my cradle 
Of delight. I had affairs working under 
Such a system, all I needed to do, was 
To say to the Old World, ' contribute ! ' and it 
Contributed. My voice was heard in ev'ry 



lOO A DREAM. 

Quarter of the globe, saying, ' contribute ! ' 
Twenty millions a year was my income, 
Sucked from the blood of toil ; my ghost of 

oppression 
Crept into the hovels of the poor 
Sapping their sustenance and lives, producing 
Misery broadcast as famine. I made 
Men so poor that poverty was ashamed 
Of them ! so poor it was a disgrace to live, 
Yet they clung to life with the tenacity 
Of a millionaire, struggling to save what 
They had been all their days trying to get 
Rid of, an impoverished life. I burnt the 

mark 
Of oppression on the forehead of Liberty ; 
I trampled it under the foot of MonojDoly. 
I held a sway that made me practically 
King. But, as affairs have terminated, 
I regret not the world's destruction, 
Everything works as I desire." 



A DREAM. lOI 

We encountered en route through space a shoot- 
ing 
Star ; it moved with such terrific velocity 
That w^e, being near, the suction drevv^ us in 
Its w^ake, holding us as a vise for millions 
Of miles. We marked terrible events 
From this w^heel of fire. It onw^ard drove like 
Lightning, passing world after world in the 
Constellation of the Hunting Dogs, 
Which were so much attracted to us, we drew 
Everything from their surface, rivers, lakes. 
Oceans, cities, living creatures, all were 
Engulfed and consumed in our tail of fire ! 
I could hear the last wail of helpless creatures 
As they were being swept up by the mighty 
Rushing torrent of attraction. 

Here water gas was produced with a wondrous 

Effect; water amid the intense heat 

Consumed like Oil, burning in a blue transparent 



I02 A DREAM. 

Light, showing a perfect combustion, 

Surpassing all attempts ever made 

On earth. To my dismay I discovered 

That the star w^as being forcibly 

Attracted by a sun ; ever increasing 

Its speed it drove directly to her centre. 

Trembling, with a crash struck the slag that 

shot 
In space a flood of spangles, then through 

ether 
Came dropping back, begemming the heavens 
With hailstones of gold ! Still on it flew 
Through the umbra, parting the molten wave 
On either side, forcing its way directly 
Through her metallic bowels. The great force 
Of opposition somewhat slackened 
Our speed, and the star, groaning, rock'd to and 

fro 
In the molten inwards of the sun, 
As if struggling for an existence ; 



A DREAM. 103 

The while sweeping 011 till, with a sound 

mighty, 
It rushed from the sun's embrace, burned to a 

half 
Consumed orb. Away back through the open- 
ing 
The incoming lava-wave came surging 
On our flank reaching out its tongue of flame 
As if to entrap us, but we following 
So close in the star's wake through the orifice, 
Like as the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, 
Before the incoming waves could close 
The opening we escaped. So intense was 
The heat floating o'er this bed of molten 
Liquid, like as a cremating furnace 
Was the air ; had I longer to stay entomb'd 
My soul must have perished therein. This en- 
counter 
Somewhat dazed me and for a time I lost 
My bearings. The star never stopped, onward 



I04 A DUE AM. 

Flew, until it became so hot for us 
By consumption of accumulating 
Matter, though on the extreme verge of attrac- 
tion, 
That it was imperative to rid 
Ourselves of this law, and we laid our plans 
For a coming crisis. 

Directly in our front 
Was an orb, young in years, and gi^een with 

fields, 
Summer was warbling forth a melodious 
Existence ; flowej-s and golden fruits maturing 
In fragrant bowers ; the awful majesty 
Of life was peeping from plant and palace. 
I held my breath waiting for an expected 
Crash, for two mighty orbs to come together, 
But my sight misled me somewhat ; missing 
The expected collision, we came so close 
That flound'ring for a time like as to a balloon 



A DREAM. 105 

O'er trees and housetops, we sustained our- 
selves 
On a huge immovable rock. 

On the star flevvr ! 
Sucking every thing from the surface 
Of this globe, consuming as it w^ent, until 
Exploding, vanished. This gi"eat frame w^e 

clung to, 
Trembling, shot after for a distance. 
But soon losing the force of attraction 
Dropped behind in unknown ether. We, 'scap- 
ing 
From her surface, left her heaving and swaying 
To do or die, like an abandoned ship 
At sea. I bethought me what a feast 
The flames would have had should the star have 

flown 
Past my little woi^ld, sucking in the Oil, 
And the corses in its depths ! 



Io6 A DREAM. 

" I must manage soon to get my refining 

Interest under way so as to 

Utilize this Oil, save an enomnous 

Shrinkage that is constantly going on 

From evaporation. The nice green Oil 

That now floats light in gravity will soon 

Reduce to forty or less, making an 

Inferior grade of illuminating 

Oil, thus necessitating the expense 

And trouble of mixing it with new Oil 

That will be developed from as yet unknown 

Territory. To start with, I must needs 

Build new refineries, but as soon as I 

Can get the surface free from Oil on my world, 

I will utilize the vast amount 

Of still capacity and machinery 

Used in Oil manufacturing, left by 

The Independents and Myself. This will 

Be a very great saving to me. 



A DREAM. 107 

' ' Of course these suggestions are merely 

Speculative, as yet I cannot tell 

Just what will be the best mode of operation, 

But this will show itself in the course of time. 

I speak of this world's more especially 

Being mine as I already have possession 

Of it ; but in reality the vast 

Universe is as much mine. I will as soon 

As I get thoroughly established, 

Issue a proclamation, setting forth ray position 

As Ruler o'er creation, a King o'er kings, 

So that my regal sway will be clearly 

Defined. I'll lay down a form of government 

For each sphere ; placing kings or dictators 

As I shall deem best suited for the people. 

All being subservient to my will. 

I do not so much mind the machinery 

I jDlace to govern my worlds, but what 'twill 

Accomplish. I value that most, popular 

Or unpopular, which produces 



I08 A DREAM. 

The best results. I shall have spirits armed 
And equipped on every planet 
Sufficient to quell any outbreak or 
Disturbance that may arise 'mong the people, 
And if must needs be, sw^eep them from the 

face 
Of existence. I think I've the w^orkings 
Of the solar system thoroughly mapped out. 
And know just what course tc pursue to secure 
The greatest revenue. 
I'll have the diurnal rotary of each 
Planet working under such a system, 
So that day on each and every orb 
Will come about at one and the same time. 
I'll shorten the da3's to six hours by increase 
Of velocity of each orb, then as evening 
Rolls in I'll slacken the rotary speed, 
Making the nights longer, but having 
In the aggregate the same time consumed 
As before. This will be done to increase 



A DREAM. 109 

The demand and sale of Oil ; the workingman's 

day 
Will run into night, necessitating 
All shops and factories to be lighted 
By Petroleum. The Oil consumed by 
Each person will be charged, and on the day 
Of settlement deducted from their wages. 
The people will attribute this change 
In the planetary system to the freaks 
Of nature, thus relieve me of any 
Suspicion they might otherwise have. 
Enhancing the while my profits to an 
Alarming extent. I may, in remote 
Sections, extinguish some of my suns, and heat 
And light the worlds they shone upon by Oil 
And gas. Of course, as yet I cannot tell 
About this ; it will depend somewhat on 
Future Oil developments. If my 
Territory is pi'olific and bids fair 
To be long-lived, I can advance this scheme ; 



no A BREAM. 

If not, I will need to economize 

Somewhat by allowing my suns to do 

Their natural woi'k." The workings of Heaven's 

Machinery was quite entertaining 

And somewhat instructive to me. 

I saw Saturn 
And her great frame whirl'd in space by spirit 

pow'r, 
Accomplishing its diurnal rot'ry 
In ten hours. I had scanned the azure void 
Of Heav'n, dreaming in her translucent mist, 
Spent a delightful time on my belov'd 
Star Jupiter ; urged St. Peter to stay 
'Till I could bore for Oil ; but he'd demurred 
Saying that we had been thi"ee nights away. 
And my corse being exposed to the heat 
"Smelt rank" to Jupiter; and that I "must 

hie 
Thither, take up my old abode again, 



A DREAM. Ill 

Set the heart in motion, and, by so doing. 

Stop decomposition." I had witnessed 

In panoramic form, from different spheres, 

The development of my little world 

From molten chaos to the present time. 

I wished to know somewhat of the constellation 

Of the Great Bear, and we directed our 

Way by the dazzling splendor of the Pole Star. 

This lord of the night never varying from 

Its course, but, sentinel like, ever at his 

Post, led straight our way. I saw en route, new 

worlds 
Loom up, stars shoot from their spheres, heav'ns 

succeed 
To heavens ; vast celestial objects come 
And go ; calorific powers transform 
Vapors into worlds, still the Eye of the North, 
In a fixed course, God-like, is ever true. 

As I looked o'er these vast nebulse fields, 



112 A DREAM. 

A storm of thought through my mind swept. 

" How 
Like Jove, wlio defied and held tlie liglitnings 
At bay, I, in tlie palm of my hand creation 
Hold ! This is no phantom thought, no hallu- 
cination 
Wrought from fever-heated brains. No ! no ! 

Those 
Fields of nebulae through the mighty void 
Dotted golden with blinking stars, peeping 
Out from cloud and sky at me suspiciously. 
Are mine ! They know," thought I, " from my 

transcendent 
Skill, the controlling power belongs to me. 

'Tis 
So decreed. I'm to be Ruler ! No power 
Can wrest the sceptre from me. My advantage 

in life 
Is above the opposing power of wisdom. 
Providence hath so hedged me round, no force 



A DREAM. 113 

Can change or effect a disturbance 'gainst 
My will ; all must succumb to my bidding." 

As we lingered on the crescent, 
I bethought me, what a dreary prospect 
Is this moon. 'Neath our feet the cold dumb 

sod ; 
Nothing above but a vast, viewless void ; 
Nothing around but that time had destroyed. 
Nothing was seen but had a dead dull glare 
While a bleak dread silence was ev'rywhere. 
There were no fanning zephyrs to cool 
The fevered brow, no clouds floating silver- 
tipped 
Through fathomless space ; no lily-crest waves 
'Mid the waterless seas, shaking their cor'nets 
Of foam 'gainst jutting rocks. There was no 

sky ; 
No azure vault to rest the eye ; the ear 
Detected no sound ; no murmur of voices 



114 -^ DREAM. 

To cheer and comfort the weary soul. 
No song from sweet linnet or babbling brook 
E'er woke an echo ; unchang'ble silence 
Held sovereignty. No life, and no death 
On this airless orb. 

Cities that had once been peopled, 
Stood all tenantless in this drear profound, 
Paved streets whereon great kings had trod, lay 

brown 
And echoless. Huge monuments of the dead 
That for years never an eye had rested on. 
Stood, spire-like, pointing to Heav'n for what 

had been. 
Pond'rous books of unknown tongue lay before 

me. 
In them were hid the secrets of the past. 
But we raised not a book, disturbed not a leaf, 
Left untouched the secrets of this sacred 
History. 



A DREAM. 115 

I spoke to St. Peter, but my voice 
Fell lifeless on my ear. I then touched him 
And pointed to the moon's refulgent beams, 
Throwing a silv'ry glow of soft liquid light 
To the limpid air of my world below, 
As a sign that I would like to depart. 
He signified assent, and with renewed speed 
We both swift winged from this hearse of death. 

As we neared 
Our journey's end, I could see my vessel 
Riding like a cork over deluged hills 
On the soft rocking of the oily wave. 

As we nearer drew. 
My ghastly second self in the gleaming 
Moonbeams seemed so like a fright, I was loth 
To take it on again, and begged St. Peter 
(Although my pinions were weak from service) 
That I might return with him. 



Il6 A DREAM. 

But he, denying, left me, half in fear. 

Half in disgust, quiv'ring o'er my loathsome 

corse. 
I felt like winging in space without a guide. 
Till I touched the safety valve of the heart 
And the vig'rous pumping sent the warm blood 
Coursing through my veins, setting life's ma- 
chin' ry 
In motion. 

I (still dreaming) thought to see the Saint 
Afar, outstretched my hand for him to take 
Me again through the alabaster gates. 
But it was then that the gates gently drew 
And left but Heav'n's impress my mind to view. 
While thus in Morpheus' languid arms I lay, 
Smooth as a tiller's plowshare cleaves the soil 
My staunch vessel's proud keel cut clear her way 
On through this limpid, liquid Sea of Oil. 
As the gold'n sea rose and sank in cadencfe 



A DREAM. 117 

Gentle, all Heav'n's grandeur was refulgent 
To my tranced sense. My soul drew me to 

realms 
Of love while my mortal form withheld me 
From above. 

Thus for hours wafted my wings of thought on 

high, 
Until below the pangs of hunger drew 
My sense. Now as Nature produced no seed 
Of life, my soul and body were in strife ; 
My several parts did demand meat 
And fruit of the soil, while the earth I'd flooded 
For greed of gain, and with it all matter 
That did life maintain. 

While thus rent and pierced with pangs of hun- 
ger, 
I saw, by Heaven's tapers, food which did 
Resolve itself into airy-like vapors 



Il8 A DREAM. 

Transmitting odors and sustenance sweet. 
As my boat amid this life-saving air 
Moved along, through ev'ry fibre of my being 
It sent new^ life, new strength and new joy 
As it went. 

Then, methought, I most earnestly did pray, — 
" Oh Father Omnipotent ! who makest 
Life supreme, strengthen, prolong, make real 
My soul-fledged dream. Let thy glories that 

o'er me 
Have burst, environ me as sin does souls 
Deep cursed." 

As thus I prayed, a voice methought I heard. 
Looking up, lo ! forthcoming from his bright 
Estate, an Emissary of Heaven 
Stretching his broad pinions rainbow-like o'er 
The canopy of earth ! Chafing the air 
Li whispering whirlwinds he straight approached 
Apace. 



A DREAM. 119 

I wore a feigned boldness, and questioned close 

His right on this mundane sphere. Said I, 

" You surely can have no business here, for I'm 

The only mortal alive on earth and need 

You not, nor w^ant no parley vv^ith you. 

You have no lucre v^hereby I could profit ; 

It must be through some misdirected 

Route you've led awrong your steps." As he 

nothing 
Said, I feigned more boldness and questioned his 

right 
Asking " why he made so free as to alight 
On my vessel.?" told him that it " was unsafe 
To trifle so with my sacred privileges ; 
That my authority as King of the world 
And dignity as such must be respected ; 
It must not be encroached upon wantonly ; 
That I should be greeted as my position 
Demanded, courteously, and with due respect." 
At this he to me closer approached, wearing 



I20 A DREAM. 

A smile of confidence that seemed to belittle 
Me, and addressed me thus, — 

"I am 
An Emissary of Heav'n, sent by the Great 
And All-Wise Power to hold a conference 
With you. I wish to draw a picture, 
A fair and truthful picture, that you may 
Look at, and see depicted your own 
Littleness. 

" Of Heaven, thou something know ; 

Thou know'st the requirements to retain 

A seat therein ; know'st man may look on 

Heav'n 
Even if his soul is reeking in sin. 
As 'twere, to see pleasures he might have gained 
If against justice he had not profaned. 

" Thou knowest man should make the well-being 



A DREAM. 121 

Of human souls the chief end of life. 
Whene'er man has wrought for this great 

aim 
He approves himself in the sight of God, 
And thus in one grand chain of love welds 
His way to Heaven." 

My feigned boldness could not last. 
Why did I start and recoil at this voice ? 
My faint heart trembl'd as to condemn itself. 
" The folly of my own imaginings 
Will betray me," thought I. 

But yet that terrible voice went on, — 

" In Hell, torture is meted out to man 

According to his sins. If in the garb 

Of a saint he the Devil serves, then his 

Punishment is doubly severe. He who 

On Heaven his eyes have bent, then is doomed 

To everlasting punishment, has double 



122 A DREAM. 

Portion of jDain to bear, double misery 
Of Hell's torments to share. 

" Man's days are o'ershadowed with the bless- 
ing 
Or cursing of his life. The Power that shap'd 

thee 
Made thee a free agent, thy form as temple 
For the soul ; a place wherein to build 
For lasting joys, or for future punishment. 

" Man's pleasure should not come from hoarding 

wealth ; 
Worldly gains are but dross ; the grasping 
Millionaire is poorer than the poor. He's 

cursed ! 
Alone in the love of God is wealth ; it cheers 

the soul and fills 
Man with an eager desire to aid the weak. 
This gracious inner longing to aid the poor 



A DREAM. 123 

Is God-given balm, and drops refreshing 
On man's soul like dews from Heaven upon 
The w^ith'ring leaf. 

" A God-loving man is a blessing ; 
He comforts all within his reach, and bestows 
Much charity upon the poor. One cannot 
Be God-loving and selfish, too. 'Tis priceless 
Riches, doing good ! The light of divinity- 
Shines through the good man's acts. The poor 

thou 
Mad'st live through all their days in poverty 
Find in death no punishment ; nothing 
Can deprive them of Heav'nly bliss, though like 
As a curse thine iron hand of oppression 
Crushed them while on earth. 

"When the Almighty fashioned thee in the 

womb 
Of life, filling thy breast with Heaven's gift, 



124 -^ DREAM. 

Charity, setting his sacred seal on thy head 

' To give the world assurance of a man,' 

He expected gratitude for his labor 

In thy help of fellow creatures. From thee, 

Charity should have been heralded through 

The land like rain ; ringing in love-notes 

From hut to hovel, until echoing 

Was heard and felt in ev'ry nook and corner 

In the world. From thy hand, Charity should 

Have gone forth assisting suff'ring humanity, 

Protecting it from the ills of life. 

As the mother hen her brood. Thou thought'st 

by 
Throttling commerce and bringing suffering 

man 
To thy feet, to be great ! Greatness does not 
Come from that source in life. He who would 
Be great is but a servant of the people. 
Man can find no better employment than 
To advance his brother's condition in life. 



A DREAM. 125 

What hast thou done but strangled all love and 

life? 
See ! whereon we float no shore we reach ; no 
Leaf, bird or man e'er greets us. Sweet life 

from 
The lap of earth ne'er more buds ; plants, flow- 
ers, 
Twigs and trees are swept by thee into the 

gulf 
Of death. Dost thou call this poverty of soul, 
Greatness ? ' Would I bid thee impoverish thy- 
self 
To help fellow creatures } ' No ! 'tis writ, 
' Man shall to himself no violence do.' " 

"Oh! 
This commandment I've been most faithful to, 
Beloved and Righteous Ruler on high. 
Not even the length or depth of a hair's 
Breadth ; not the tiniest nicety 



126 A DREAM. 

Of a molecule's width, not the turning-point 
Of one small iota, have I wavered 
From this path of duty." 

" He, who in any way against his neighbor 
By malicious desire, or base intrigue 
Doeth violence, shall inherit 
The Kingdom of Hell ! " 

" Oh Thou, whose eyes command eternal space, 
Search not my ways too close, for fear that I 

might 
Through a greed of gain, have sinned in thy 

sight." 

" Man must not take by pillage or by fraud 
His neighbor's sustenance." 

" Oh, Great and Most High," I prayed, " have 
mercy 



A DREAM. 127 

On me, thy child, floating on this fathomless 

sea ; 
Oh, forsake not this single soul, drifting 
On, on, forever on, I know not where. 
Thou who doth dwell within the spirit 
Of all things, reach out a protecting hand 
To me ! Have mercy on my wretched state." 

My heart did swell within me, and I felt 

This shoreless stretch of wealth for which I'd 

planned. 
Had placed my soul in jeopardy. 
If the world was mine, to what end was't 

gained 
If my soul was doomed to eternal pain .'' 

Methought, 
"Strange contrast to my wretched mind's this 

sea. 
That like a liquid mirror calm is flowing, 



128 A DREAM. 

The swift unfoldment of my future state 
Comes o'er me like a plague. 

" I'm cast like a man in the desert wild, 
Wayward and trackless is the course ; all drear, 
No cheer, no fruit, no flower doth him surround. 
From me Hope's fled. I'm left on a barren 

waste. 
Revolving in the boundless blue of eternal space. 
What a sad change is this that comes o'er my 

fate! 
Erewhile creation vast was too narrow 
For my soul, now no place so small but I 
Would hide." 

" Thou should'st not 
Have in any way intimidated 
Fellow man ; should'st have left the avenues 
Of trade open to all alike. Thou should'st 
Have shunned conspiracy of ev'ry kind. 



A DREAM. 129 

Especially that which would defeat honest 
Toil. As thou hast conspired and injured 
Fellow man, thou art doomed, and Heaven 
Thou shalt not see ! " 

" Oh Most High ! " in anguish then I cried, 
" Have thou compassion on me, I pray thee, 
On my knees beg I you sentence to stay. 
Until here below I can penance do 
That will save my soul." 

" Dost thou once think," replied the awful 

voice, 
" Thou canst drown God's soil, devastate, lay 

waste 
God's whole domain with Peti'oleum Oil, 
And .not feel the hand of Justice on thee.? 
They, who of the great bounties of Nature 
Have shared most lavishly and selfishly 
Have kept the necessities of life away 



130 A DREAM. 

From suffering man, must bide their time in 
Hell. 

" Hast thou helped the weak, or hast led the 

blind 
Or, hast converted the wisdom that God 
Has given thee into base, selfish ends ; 
Drowning not only man in all his sin, 
But the beasts of the wood, and stifled 
Birds of the air. 

" Thou hast revolted ! turned 
Traitor to God ! Swept away his flocks, drown'd 
All earth that beat and palp'tated with life 
And joy. You stole upon the secrets 
Of the night when earth was in darkness 
Crown'd when nature lay diffused in sleep ; 

when 
All was lulled to a quiet, unsuspecting 
Rest, to the secret safety-valve of the world, 



A DREAM. 131 

To touch was death to all but thee. From 

Thy premeditated designs to drown 

The world thou did'st build a bark, a craft 

Of ingenious device, modeled to float 

On Oil. When all was ready, in the dread 

hour 
Of the night, secretly you touched the valve 
That deluged the world with Oil, then stole 

away 
For safety unto thy bark that lay moored 
In Oil Creek, hard by, there, with an inner 
Self-satisfied air watched the sad work 
Of destruction go on until nature 
Lay buried at thy feet. You've plucked the 

sweets 
From earth, the soul from man, blasted all life ; 
Sent the tide forever searching, never 
Reaching a shore. The mighty ocean 
That before naught but God could stay, as it 

swept 



132 A DREAM. 

Eternally on in a trackless swell, 

Pointing to the great day when the fathomless 

Depths should give up the dead, now lies a 

prey 
To thy wilful designs. The cataracts 
That went pouring adown the mountain side 
In dazzling splendor are no more. 
How inferior is thy insignificance 
To the great power that thy wanton hand 
Has destroyed ! " 

"Oh, stay thee!" 
I cried, " I can endure no more. I here 
Invoke in thy presence, the Almighty 
To lift this blubb'ry Oil from off the face 
Of earth, and restore to drown'd man his life 
Estates. Oh, give me but the power to purge 
The innermost recesses of my soul, free 
From sin by doing penance, and hereafter 
I will live grand and pure as the ever 



A DREAM. 133 

Filt'ring waters, till the irresistible 

Current of time will have done with me here." 

" All thy world in solemn gloom displays 
A mocking contrast to better days ; days 
Of life and cheer, of love, comfort, and hope 
In Heaven. A deep, sad, solemn repose 
Lays all around, no welcome sound, no voice 
Invades this mighty deep ; nothing save 
Reflected fancies of death. Dreadful sights 
To compare with earth that was ! To satisfy 
A greedy desire for gold, you wrought yourself 
A tomb of fire ! This sea you reverence 
As a god, will plague your life as pestilence 
Did sinful man's when he at will roamed 
O'er the sod. What say you ? 
' You would but rejoent.' 
Vain foolish man, there are no acts or words 
Could purge your guilty soul all free from 
sin ! " 



134 ^ DREAM. 

" But should I yield to you my Oil, all my 
Possessions, my power, what then ? " 

" You have no 
Lasting possessions, no power, but life, 
And that you've cursed by greed of gain, cut off 
Your own enjoyment by selfish ends. 
Consider, — what is wealth ? 
Is'tGold? Oil? No! no! 
A kindly hand and a cheerful heart, a clear 
Conscience, honest efforts ; faith and love 
In an Over-ruling Power ; such is 
An everlasting wealth, a foundation 
For an eternal life. What are riches 
In gold, in Oil, compared unto this t 
Though you possess the whole, you get nothing 
But what you eat, drink, and wear; you are as 

poor 
As a beggar, with all this world at your feet. 
Ah, man ! man 1 thy life is vain ; the days thou 



A DREAM. 135 

Should'st end in peace, thou shalt end in pain, 
Then pain follows pain. The vital air of sin 
Environs thee, this gloating poison in your 
Soul that's plucked God's and man's harvest, 

w^ill end 
Thy days in shame. When thou yield'st this 

mortal 
Breath and wing to the sable shades of dishonor, 
While sitting in grief, with trembling mien, 

such 
Pains, aches, and horrid sights thine eyes will 

behold 
Thou wilt rebel against thine own lost soul 
For thy past atroc'ties to man ; there beg 
And plead for mercy in the most pitiful 
Lamentations. All comforts of life 
That's past will rise before thee as mocking 
Visions ; thy home comforts, all that thou most 
Desired in earthly life will pest thee with 
A mocking counterpart of their reality. 



136 A DREAM. 

Mountains of gold will rush past thee, produc- 
ing 
An eager longing for their possessions ; 
Taunting pictures of bonds, stocks, will feast 

thy 
Greedy sight to a bitter disappointment. 
Thy brain will register sweet images 
Of quiet, while Hell's torments will fill 
Thy frame with unrelenting pain. Od'rif 'rous 
Plants that on earth thou most enjoyed, you'll 

see 
In Hell ; when you do but seek their arbors. 
They will yield such a revolting stench, with 
Nausea and pui-ging you will flee. 
The shades of Hell are so hot the flesh becomes 
Crisp and cracks ; great chunks break ofl', leav- 
ing bare 
The bone that filters the marrow through its 
Pores, burning like unto a small blue flame 
From an unconsuming gas jet. 



A DREAM. 137 

"What! pardon? No! no ! 
As thou through all thy life thus far hast moved 
An enemy to God and man, thy future 
Is firm fixed ; there is no law that can change 
The decree ; the mandate of Heav'n's gone forth, 
And the authorities of Paradise 
Have attested to thy fate. Hell's thy future 
Home. Do I think there is a chance for you.^ 
Thy chance of Heav'n doth as poorly sit 
As does thy dead earth to bloom with life again." 

As these last words were spoken, he vanished. 
Lo ! then forth came on the wave's crest 
Grinning skulls with ugly sightless eyes ! 
These horrid maggots so wrought in my brain 
That at every glance I gave, they seemed 
To expand and distort into ten thousand shapes, 
Sending a horror through my frame, as if 
Some energetic power from Hell's core 
Was throbbing in my heart. 



138 A DREAM. 

" Father of Mercy ! " I cried, 
" I, thy humbled child, bow me down crushed 
In spirit to pray ; my hopes are fled, unless 
Thee my poor chained soul will but hear and 

heed. 
I pray for those that 'neath my feet lowly lie ; 
Those whose tortured souls deep in Hell do lan- 
guish ; 
Oh take them to thy realms of bliss on high ! 
Lift me from my wretched state, and pity ine, 
Father, for Pity's sake." 

Then, methought, an icy chill 
Convulsed my frame. It now seemed freezing 

cold, 
Yet 'twas not winter. " It must be," said I, 
" The law of Nature has o'erleaped itself 
And fiillen back into the arms of Frost, 
Or why this pale, sickly look ! Wherefore this 

numbing 



A DREAM. 139 

Cold, erewliile so warm and serene?" This 

seemed 
Most strange, and yet to me it was real. 
As the cold increased. 

Great peaks of the highest mountains loomed up. 
Through the congealing Oil ; barren and bleak 
They stood, shrouded in winding sheets of snow, 
As monuments to the dead world. 

Silently the fabric of my Dream 
Arose in pure transparent peaks of ice. 
Till Frost had locked the world in solidity. 
I gazed mournfully on this scene, shiv'ring 
And shaking, as was my congealing blood 
Slowly sealing up the channels of life. 
That dread empire, Fi'ost, had now closed all 
Resources of Nature. I'd nothing to do 
But wait. Living, I silent stood within 
My ice-bound tomb. 
Every hour I noted 



140 A DREAM. 

The dissipation of heat. Frost 
Glistened in the sun's warmless rays. All light 
And heat were but as a drear mockery 
To the time. 

Blocks of ice roofed by flakes of snow 
Environed me. There was nothing but ice, 
Crags and peaks of ice ! All was a drear waste 
Of bleak despair. My heart sickened, turned 

cold, 
And lay like lead in its cerements. Thought I, 
"Nature is a tomb, a blank monument 
To what has been. Her spirit of life's fled. 
I, alone, stand mid this wreck and ruin. 
Forlorn. Darkness sits brooding in my soul ; 
I wait the coming of I know not what, 
I trust that it may be joy, but alas, 
I fear eternal sorrow." 

The waning moon shone in pitiful paleness 



A DREAM. 141 

Above the cloud-tipped pyramids of ice ; 
Winds, in doleful sounds and mournful cadence 
Swept ever through my useless rigging. 
My life was as death, drear, cold, and barren. 
My stagnant blood went shivering backward 
To its source ; my soul was hopeless and forlorn* 
There were no joyous thoughts to give me cheer, 
For blasted hopes there came no welcome sound. 

I was sick of life which bore no fruit for me, 
Mem'ry pierced iny heart with pictures of the 

past. 
The running brook, the church upon the hill. 
On them to think my eyes with tears did fill. 
No more a joy, was life to me, below, 
My spirit was bleeding o'er its wretched state, 
My shaft, then flying from the golden past 
Aimed for death's river quiv'ring on the blast. 
Hell sure was gaping wide before my eyes. 
I was loth to die, and was loth to live. 



142 A DREAM. 

Life or death (if my choice I could but take), 
I knew not which, so wretched was my state. 

" Oh God of Love ! " I prayed, " one boon but 

grant 
To me ; roll back the years till I clasp 
Mother's knee, and let my yearning eyeballs 
Once more trace the smiles, joys and shadows 
Upon her sweet face. Oh, but let me die 
On her dear breast ! I'd lived a goodly time 
When I her bosom pressed. 

" But no ! no ! no ! this never can so be. 
Ah, well ! soon from this living death I'll flee. 
All around the wind of Death has blown. 
While mighty swaths the scythe of Time hath 
mown." 

As I stood bemoaning my sad fate, 

I thought to feel a breath of temp'rate air 



A DREAM. 143 

Fan soft my cheek ; a hundred changes came 
O'er my face, while a thousand swept ni}- soul. 
My heart, anon so cold, now burned with the 

fire 
Of youth ; with joy I paced the smooth surface 
Of my ice-girt ship. 

I noted the blubbery Oil take shape. 
And marked the mountain peaks disappear, 
As the Oil expanded to the sun's heat ; 
I rejoiced as I floated once again 
A thing of life. 

As the airy heat danced and quivered 
Over my face, touching as with a balm 
My frost-nipped soul, I gazed about with de- 
light 
On the broad bosom of my em'rald sea, 
While the sun's warm rays went quivering 
down 



144 ^ DREAM. 

The Arctic cope of Heaven. I could picture 
In the sky the fair mirage of a verdant rivage ; 
Castles towering on the peak of some beetling 

bluff, 
Contending armies in deadly combat 
For its supremacy ; sabres gleaming 
In air ; fleecy clouds issuing smoke-like 
As from heavy guns, v^^hile in the distance 
Was heard a low mutt'ring sound, then dense 

and black 
The angry sky was seen ; as lightnings leaped 
And quiv'red through the dun clouds, thunders 

burst 
Forth in tremendous explosions making 
The eternal space of Heaven tremble 
To its base. 

The lightning blue from the torrent's blast 
Shivered, rent in twain my stately mast. 
And shot its zigzag streaks of vivid Hell 



A DREAM. 145 

Thwart the Oily flood, crash on crash, pell-mell. 
I thought that Nature's day, and all was done, 
That earth to the fiery fiend must succumb. 

*' Father Omnipotent ! " I cried, " make Thou 
The lightning to but stay its course, or far 
From my combustible sea spend its force." 

My voice was smothered as burst the blackened 
Heav'ns in tongues of fire and harsh confusion. 
The elements battling with dire alarms 
Shook the sky, chafing it with streaks of 'lectric 
Light, making doubly terrible the black'ned 
Night. The hurling thunders rolled from pole 

to pole. 
Trembling the earth as fear quaked my soul ; 
Red thunderbolts seemed to environ me, 
I would but escape ! Where could I flee ? 
" What horrid death," thought I, " if in this Oil 
The electric spark should fly ! " 



146 A DREAM. 

Then the forked lightning rent asunder 

The black'ned sky ; 'twas like a snake with 

hellish 
Venomed tongue darting at ev'ry object 
That it would shun. It split the clouds in twain, 
And then, into the green sea it went. 
Far and farther fire licked the liquid main, 
Till flaming ramparts arose like walls ; 
To escape all efibrts vain. What could strife 
Avail when the devouring element sought 
The consuming of my life.'' 

The curling flames upward leaped and licked the 

stars. 
That like rockets in the darkest night downward 
Fell, bursting, begemming all the Heavens 
With jewels of light. The Oily sea before 
Me lay a sheet of flame, a bed of fire ; 
A counterpart of Hell's desire ! 
Satan, sure, must have swept the skies with his 



A DREAM. I^>J 

Flaming wheel, no other power would have 
Wrought this scene of woe. " Earth," thought 

I, " cannot 
Withstand this tide of flame, melting she must 
Float a metallic flood, or bursting, in space 
Find an ignoble grave." Round and round 
The mighty cauldron boiled, seething and hissing 
Till, shudd'ring, the earth to her vei'y poles 
Convulsive shook. 

Then a whirling, eddying blast of fire 

And stifling smoke enshrouded me. " Oh, 

God ! " 
I groan'd in agony, " shield me, I pray Thee, 
From this frightful death." Soon the scathing 
Flames my spars did lick, oh ! those livid 

tongues. 
Of Hell, how they stuck ! They cringed like a 

cur 
At my feet, yet repelled every effort, 



148 A DREAM, 

All means defeated to quench their hot thirst ; 
Ever becoming stronger and fiercer 
By what they fed on. 

Anon, 
My vessel's course was stayed, her masts, they 

fell! 
Nowhere could I flee. Then, as if to make 
Existence still more ajDpalling, Hell's 
Dumb reptiles took shelter along with me. 
Over my flesh their cringing bodies crawled, 
From heat distilling pois'nous ooze. Their 

shrieks 
Of pain mocked my own sad doom. I prayed 

God 
To "• end this torture dire ! to quench this life 
Of mine, or extinguish this mad fire." 

Then methought. 
Those souls that I supposed were in the Pool, 



A DREAM. 149 

(And of all I most eai-nestly wished there) , 
The Producers and. Independent Refiners 
Peered at me from Heaven and heard my 
Supplications, I could have endur'd anything 
But this ; that they should enjoy Heav'n's high 

estate 
While I in torture pent, w^as more than Hell's 
Punishment. Oh, it was too much ! I prayed 
That the red flames would devour me outright, 
That I might be fore'er hidden from their sight. 
To see and know the very men in life 
Whose exaltations I opposed, whose sway 
I checked, and whose very persons I loathed 
With consummate hatred were dignified 
In Heav'n unto a perfect unity 
With angelic life, was more than nature 
Could endure. My heart swelled and wellnigh 

burst 
With its grief and mortification. Ay, 
My very hair seemed like hot irons 



150 A DREAM. 

Goatling, burning, and searing my tortured 
Brain, so horrible was my Dream-wrought 
Punishment. 

Methought a railway ti'ain was running through 
The windings of my nature. I could feel 
The red-hot coals singe and burn my soft flesh, 
As in languid curves through the ways of my 
Vile and crooked life it forced slow its way. 

Then the world went rocking, heaving, sway- 

In convulsions, till fissures grav'tating 

To the earth's centre opened up, taking 

In seas of Oil to be vomited forth 

In volumes of flames and heat that melted 

The earth's substance into molten liquid. 

Then lowering clouds that hung low with 

floods 
Of water burst their cerements, letting forth 



A BREAM. ■ 151 

Their contents into the earth-centring 
Crevices. Like as to a boiler 
From over-pressure of steam explodes. 
Did the earth in atoms shoot foi'th in space. 

Then, 
Methought, my soul in a new form winged 

forth ; 
Fearful of the falling debris it sped 
As a thief from Justice. So fast I flew 
The world's chaos of bones and coffin-cinders 
Soon fell behind my swift expanse of flight. 
On I flew I past countless myr'ads of solar 
Systems ; on, on beyond this wilderness 
Of worlds till the galaxy of Heaven 
Was hid from view. On, so deep into 
The abyss of distance that the sun's rays 
Gleamed ghost-like amid the sable shades 
Of suburban Hell. 



152 A DREAM. 

Down into this illim'table dungeon 

Of hoary blackness I long stood gazing 

With useless eyes, till they starting seemed to 

burst 
From their sockets. I could see, not with eyes. 
Yet with other senses which were so acute 
That all Hell's horrid creatures seemed before 

me. 
I trembling prayed to the Prince of Darkness 
For but a moiety of my former peace ; 
But alas ! he laughed my supplications 
To scorn. 

Then the scene was sadly changed ; with its 

change 
There was increase of pain. The intense heat 
Sapped the marrow from my bones, elicited 
From me low stifled moans ; still was I loth 
For the Independent Oil men to know 
What I suffered deep down in the dark confines 



A DREAM. 153 

Of the damned, and slinking crawled behind 

A projecting rock to hide. 

Then, methought, my sight was cleared with 

euphrasy, 
And I met monopolists, stock-jobbers, 
Railroad kings, murderers, thieves, incendiaries. 
And vile leaders of political rings ! 
Men with subtlety and guile in their souls. 
I tried to flee from them as from a ghost. 
But I could not escape. These double-tongued 
Dev'ls proclaimed me leader of their hellish 
Train. 

Such horrid sounds and sights, 
Of infernal hue came from this damned pit 
I shudder whenever I think of it ! 
There were oflsprings of pride, in life, honored. 
In Hell blaspheming their names. 

I saw all the Stygian sufferings 



154 ^ DREAM. 

Portrayed in the sins of those creatures, Ay, 
And felt the pangs myself. My throat was 

parched 
With heat ; I could hear and see trickling 

streams 
At a distance ; great cakes of ice were before 
My sight. I yearned for thenT, I rushed for 

them 
Through dim vapory mists of scalding dew, 
Yet nearer unto them I never drew. 
I could see broad lakes, lashing their waves 

'gainst 
The massive rocks, sending their milk-white 

spray 
High in space, as if to augment my thirst. 

As on I sped, my parched tongue hung 
As if to catch descending drops of sjoray ; 
No moisture fell save to blister, as it touched. 
On I flew till my agonizing pains 



A DREAM. 155 

Biu'st forth in horrid shrieks that went echoing 
Terrific through the sable vaults of Hell. 

" Oh ! " cried I, " if I were but on eaith again, 

I would treat all mankind as my equals. 

I'd earn an honest living as did just men. 

I would not let railroads discriminate 

In my favor 'gainst the people's interest, 

But if honestly I should amass wealth 

Beyond any reasonable demand, 

I'd help the cripple 'long the way of life, 

That he also in his turn might give aid 

To whomsoe'er he might." 

Then, methought, I came to a lake of Oil 
That looked very like old Bradford stock sub- 
jected 
To a high pressure of Hell's heat, seemingly 
Undergoing a distillation. At first 
I became somewhat interested, and watched 



156 A DREAM. 

The smooth surface of the Oil, as, like a mirror 
It shone, reflecting the little globules 
Of vapor, that rose and floated to the utmost 
Height, roofed and walled in by Hell, condens- 
ing. 
Fell back to repeat again the e'er revolving 
Process like as to the continuous 
Distillation of a Van Sycle Still. 
The vapory globules mingling, so blended 
With the substance of Hell as to make 
Sulphuretted hydrogen, emitting 
An offensive odor like unto decomposed 
Eggs. This produced such a nausea that I, 
Stifling, searched for a manhole through which 

to 'scape, it 
Seeming as if I was enclosed in a heated Still. 
But this means of exit being fastened 
I bethought of, and rushed for, the Vapor-pipes, 
Squeezed through with the venomous odors 
And escaped by the way of the Tail-house, 



A DREAM. 157 

Througn a two-inch pipe, thinking to elude 

My difficulties, but 'stead enhanced 

Them, for I encountered Lucifer, 

And trusting to the endurance and speed 

Of my tried pinions sought to escape him by 

flight, 
The while making fiendish faces at, and 
Letting forth tones of mocking satire 
That greatly incensed him. He, with resent- 
ment strong, 
In hot pursuit forth sped to chase me down 
And flay my flesh. To see the visage 
Of Lucifer in rage, terror seized me 
And I regretted my rash step. What could 
I do but flee? To sue for mercy was vain. 
So I put foith all efforts to escape. 
This goaded Lucifer to his utmost speed. 
And we both like lightning flew, I with fear 
Which nerved me to the task, Lucifer in wrath 
To chastise me. The imps as if mocking 



158 A DREAM. 

Spurred their leader to the chase until to me 
He closer drew, not within arm's reach, how- 
ever, 
But with bearded tail outstruck, laying my flesh 
Open to the bone from hip to shoulder. 
I, from force of the blow, being disabled 
Could not farther flee, so about forth turned, 
With tooth and nail seized upon Lucifer, 
It being my only chance, trusting 
To o'er-power him. Close embraced we both 
Downward fell into the boiling Pool ; 
Lucifer being undermost sunk beneath 
The surface, and strangling straight sought 

breath ; 
This separated us and he 
Forth swimming left me, helpless, crippled 
In the heated lava that coursed through my 

wound 
Inflicted sores until I burst forth in shrieks 
Of pain for help ! This devil heeded me not 



A DREAM. 159 

Until he reached the shore, then sent his imps 
To bring me unto him, and like as 
A porous plaster adheres to hair and flesn, 
Lucifer glued me to his side, addressing me 
thus : 

" I am Prime Minister 
Unto his Satanic Majesty, 
Sent by him to judge you by impartial 
Scrutiny as to the enormity 
Of your fallacious guile." 

I implored his Lordship, 
" To deal with due consideration with me. 
To think I prayed him, of the souls I'd launched 
Into his care by drowning the world with Oil ! " 
Said I, "Through me you've received many 

souls 
That would otherwise have reformed and gone 
The primrose way to Heaven." 



l6o A DREAM. 

" Yes ! yes ! " said he, " this is all very true, 
But you seem to forget that in drowning 
The world, you've extinguished all life thereon, 
Thus ruined all my prospects from that sphere. 
You've stopped a resource of souls that for 

millions 
Of years would have been the recipients 
Of my spleen ! 

" Yes ! ninety per cent would have come to me. 
From that small world I was getting more souls 
Than from all the rest of my territory. 
Not that alone, you have quite disheartenea 
The devils that I had on earth recruiting 
Souls for the Stygian Pool. Now, as they 
Are out of service they are rioting 
Through the bowels of Hell most disgracefully. 
And you, you alone, are responsible 
For all this trouble." 



A DREAM. l6l 

Thus conversing, it was not long before my 

Cui-iosity was aroused by loud 

Noises hard by, looking, in horrid shapes 

I saw all the usurers of earth, towards 

Me move. Straight terror convulsed me lest 

they 
Should break their bonds and seize upon me, but 
Viewing closer their tumultuary 
Proceedings, I was soon convinced that they 

were 
In parley o'er the rate of interest 
To exact for some imaginary loan. 
There were no transactions, but dreadful phan- 
toms 
Of, in their imaginings. Here, I saw 
All frailties of life confusedly thrown 
Together ; God-mocking christians ; no charity. 
No love but for self. Men with beastly 
Appetites for drink ; men so penurious 
They were dishonest, petty thieves. It seemed all 



1 62 A DREAM. 

The immortal venom of earth together 
Like worms through the lust of sin in pain 
And contention were crawling. 

Torrents of shrieks and moans 
In tumults of unrelenting pain greeted me. 
Horrors horrid came welling up to my sight 
From this pit of infamy. Black Sin, 
Scathed and scarred in welt'ring, misshap'n 

souls 
Was before me. "Oh!" thought I, "what a 

curse 
Hangs o'er this frightful region." As I stood 
Spellbound, Lucifer asked, " Why on those souls 
I so long gazed.? " I answered, " I know not 
Save from pity." Said he, "While on earth 

they were 
Vile wretches of the lowest order 
And deserve not pity. You need all your 
Inborn sympathy for self." Then, methought 



A DREAM. 163 

A venomous snake with forked tongue shot 
Darting pains through my loins as it coiled 
About me. Clammy scales crept slowly 
O'er my flesh, and I, shudd'ring, griped with 

frenzy 
The snake's protruding head, squeezing until 
It lifeless fell at my feet prone down. 
Then it seemed I had strangled a creature 
Human ! one most fair. I, shrieking, tried to 

escape, 
But to Lucifer seemed close bound ; 
And could not stir ! The horror of my posi- 
tion 
Was inexpressible. Fast stayed o'er my 
Bloody work my revolting soul must soon 
Have lost its reason but for Lucifer's 
Shutting from my ken this aspect horrible, 
And I gave forth a sigh like one relieved 
From pain. Mid all this darkness Lucifer 
Signified his pleasure and he leading, 



164 A DREAM. 

We both winged like bats through the blackened 

void 
Until of a sudd'n we alighted on a projecting 
Rock that low'ring o'erhung a lake of sin. 
My sight here being restored I directed 
My gaze to a scene the most of all I would 
But shun. 

Directly in our front, methought 
I saw my royal crew of earth welt'ring 
In a pool of burning Oil, that stank so like 
Lima stock but for the torments 
And visible presence of Lucifer 
I surely must have thought me on earth. 
These godless wretches seemed wading in this 
Burning Oil to their armpits, the wound-inflict- 
ing 
Flames in fest'ring horrors marked their features. 
As to each in turn I my gaze directed, 
They seemed most faithful unto their old 



A DREAM. 165 

Employer and employment, for with 
Uplifted hand above my ken to make sure 
My focus one I beheld in scrolls of flame 
Writing, as if woi'king on some private 
Papers. He should have passed unknown but 

for his 
Writing (so awful was his flame-eaten flesh) ; 
I knew it well ; not alone that, however, 
The dazzling real'ty of base transactions 
That on earth were secrets between us, now stood 
Out in letters of flame, as startling 
As Belshazzar's writing on the wall. 
This double-hoofed devil exposing my 
Secrets incensed me. Then I saw menials 
That I'd paid on earth as spies, in close 
Communion, as if o'er some mean inatter 
Of weighty importance were debating; 
Planning some diabolical scheme 
To entrap the Independent Refiners. 
They all did sigh sore-tortured, save one, and he 



1 66 A DREAM. 

Was a lean, hungry, Cassius-looking cur, 
So black in visage that mid the darkness 
Of the pit, him around all seemed v/hite. 
As he thus sat, emitting flame from his 
Steel-plated nostrils he evinc'd an enjoyment 
That a veteran would experience 
In smoking a fragrant Havana 
After long abstemiousness. I had fear 
Of him, however valuable to me 
On earth to assist in doing my secret work. 
" He is a Judas," said I to myself, 
" Should he see me he would betray me, his 
Old master ; should he outspeak or laugh. 
It would most damaging be to my cause. 
That I'm befoie His Highness pleading." 
So I slunk back as if to hide, but he. 
Seeing this movement, defined my motive 
And leading, they all laughed with a horrid 
Hellish meaning that unto Lucifer 
Exposed my position, for he after, 



A DREAM. 167 

Close eyed me with a suspiciousness that 
Bespoke eternal vigilance on my 
Movements. 

In glancing around o'er this assemblage 

Of incarnate fiends, I could not recall 

One of all my many partners or employees 

But what were here. I, thinking them 

Good, likely fellows, asked Lucifer about 

This crew. (I'd thought in drowning them to 

send 
Them to Heav'n to bless me, 'stead they were 

here 
To curse me.) In brief he replied : 

" The reason of this is 
That all Monopolists and whosoe'er 
Encourages their work, or profits from 
This base mode of money making, their souls 
Are Satan's." 



1 68 A DREAM. 

" Great Lucifer, if so you feel inclined 
Impart to me who are those wretched souls 
Whose faces front this way, even now ? 
Those whose forms are stooping low hard by 

where 
That black fruitage grows that's pois'nous, 

deadly 
To the taste. Those corporal festerings 
That stand close, but all sep'rate from my crew, 
Writhing, fast stayed in the earth as if like seeds 
They grew rooted to the sod ? Such tortures 
Are in their mien they sure are some doomed 
Immortals for bloody sins on earth, 
To thee committed." 

But Lucifer, straight answering, said, 
" No, they are not for murder held but for 
Controlling the Trusts of earth and in 
Advancing prices on staple products 
Made hungry many a deserving mouth. 



A DREAM. 169 

None of this class escaped us, we had them 
Registered for our keeping long before 
They left the mortal form. No death-bed 
Repentance could shield them from their just 
Punishment ; and thou mighty leader 
Of Monopoly and Trusts shall feel doubly 
The inflicting torments of Hell." 

"Oh Great One! 
Change thou the spirit of thy proem, 
And let fall lightly upon me thy wrath. 
On earth I revered thee unknown to the Church. 
I keep nothing from thee, I am for thee. 
Have compassion on me, thy co-worker." 

But Lucifer replied, 
" Your greedy calculations of selfishness 
Being subversive unto holiness 
Has caused your downward fall to sable shades, 
'Stead of rising to ulterior perfection. 



170 A DREAM. 

We like this malicious working in souls, 
But yours is too sordid ; it has a horrid 
Effect over our reign of contention. 
And thus 'tis an everlasting disgust 
Sums up all previous dealings with you. 
You now come here with a supple spirit 
And laudable craftiness that would do 
Great credit to his Satanic Majesty, 
Waiting for the first opportunity 
That presents itself to seize on Satan's 
Substance and then convert it into 
A Monopoly. 

'"• Hell teems with souls 
Of both noble and ignoble extraction, 
But there is not one within my keeping 
That's as base and hollow-hearted as thou ! 
There hangs a curse about thy neck that would 
Set Hell groaning 'neath its weight ; thou hast 
More arts of cunning than would cheat Satan 



A DREAM. 171 

Out of his throne. I am after thee 

So be wary, for on thee I'll vent my spleen." 

"Noble Lucifer!" I cried, "on my weak 

spirit 
Vent not your royal malice that with fear 
Like a shadow's now trembling before you. 
I'll abdicate my Sea of Oil to you 
And pipe it to the nether depths of all, 
If thou'lt but let me off." 

" Vile dissembler ! 
Do you think to stand in false light to Satan, 
As you have to God's people, by saying ' 
You'll abdicate your Oil and pipe it to Hell.? 
Base deceiver, think'st I know not thy world 
Is no more .? I know all thy treachery 
Unto man ; thy crooked ways in life 
Are no secret to me. 



]:72 A DREAM. 

"Thou thought'st to reach the resplendent 

summit 
Of primeval glory by displaying 
A false face. Throw by the mask and stand 

forth, 
Stamped for the red consuming penal fires. 
I know thee for what thou art, a devil 
In the guise of an angel ! The spirits 
Of Hell shall seize thee." 

Oh ! what agony tore my soul, as upon 
The utmost heights of a barren perpendicular 
Rock, by winding paths and gorges deep-laid, 
He dragged me. I closed my eyes to shut 

out 
The aspect horrible that before me 
Lay. From the abyss deep down, weltering 
In their lust, wrangled crooked perverse mon- 
sters 
Of Hell, whose jaws kept working 



A DREAM. 173 

With scissor-like movement to catch my tremb- 
ling 
Bulk, then suspended in space by this devil 
Lucifer. 

As I passed slowly, surely 
To my doom how I did plead for mercy. 
But Lucifer scoffed at my prayers and said, 
" I give your body unto the reptiles 
Of the damned, and your soul to nether depths 
Of all." 

Oh ! then, methought those slimy reptiles rent 
And tore the flesh from oft' my bones, leaving 
My soul bare, naked ; shiv'ring with Fear's 

cold. 
Amid Hell's heat. 

Minutes passed like years in this tortured sleep, 
Until, amid unbearable horrors 



174 ^ DREAM. 

I awoke to find my sinewy form 

Low bent, hair bleached to snowy whiteness. 

Time passes slowly on, 

But yet no rest my soul doth find, such torments 

Gave my Petroleum Dream ! 



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